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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC
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3 1833 01066 9460
HISTORY
OK THK
STATE OF COLORADO
EMBRACING ACCOUNTS OF THE
PRE-HISTORIC RACES AND THEIR REMAINS; THE EARLIEST SPANISH, FRENCH AND
AMERICAN EXPLORATIONS ; THE LIVES OF THE PRIMITIVE HUNTERS, TRAP-
PERS AND traders; THE COMMERCE OF THE PRAIRIES; THE FIRST
AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS FOUNDED ; THE ORIGINAL DISCOVERIES
OF GOLD IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS; THE DEVELOPMENT
OF CITIES AND TOWNS, WITH THE VARIOUS PHASES
OF INDUSTRIAL AND POLITICAL TRANSITION,
FROM 1858 TO 1890.
IK B^oxjR ^ox^xjm:es.
ILLUSTRATED.
VOIiUME II.
FEANK HALL,
FOR THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN HISTORICAL COMPANY.
CHICAGO:
THE BLAKELY PRINTING COMPANY,
1890.
Entered According to Act of Congress, in the Year iSi)o, by
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN HISTORICAL CO.,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
INTRODUCTORY.
1J8G75:S
When the initial volume of our history was given to the public in
June, 1889, it was believed to be possible to issue the second in Sep-
tember following. Subsequent researches, however, consumed more
time and involved greater labor than had been anticipated, hence it was
not completed and published until March, 1890. It was a part of the
plan also, to epitomize therein the more important chronicles of some, at
least, of the counties, cities and towns originally organized under the
Territorial government, continuing the same until the series should be
completed, and while this purpose has not been abandoned, its execution
is necessarily deferred by the demands of the general history of the
Territory and State. Although the annals of several counties have been
collated, it was found impracticable to present them here, therefore they
are reserved for the succeeding volume.
The first three chapters of this work are devoted to an extremely
interesting outline of the geological formation of the land we occupy,
prepared by Mr. R. C. Hills of Denver. Although abridged to the
narrowest limits consistent with its magnitude, and only designed as a
sketch of the more essential features of this great subject, much valuable
information is tersely conveyed respecting the primordial conditions of
this portion of our continent, beginning with remote ages when the earth
was but an incandescent fluid globe, and tracing the marvelous series of
(iii)
iv ■ INTRODUCTORY.
mighty evolutions thence to the formation of primitive rocks, down to
the emergence of the first dry land when the stupendous ranges of the
Rocky Mountains, that are now the wonder and delight of all observers,
appeared only in the form of a few small islands lifted above the waters
of the vast Palceozoic ocean, onward epoch by epoch, to the stage in which
we find them, with extensive notations of the birth of floral and faunal
life and their development and decay. The treatise throughout evinces
the care of a patient, learned and devoted student, and that the best
lights of modern science have been thrown upon it. With the facts
before us it is a matter of astonishment that he has been able to compress
so much within the limit assigned. Though only the essential details
have been extracted from the accumulated evidence, the sketch is
remarkably comprehensive and interesting.
In the second chapter a subject that is of greater import, in a com-
mercial sense, than any other with which the masses have to deal, — the
character and distribution of our coal deposits, — is very clearly defined.
In this branch of inquiry Mr. Hills has attained great proficiency through
years of close application thereto, hence his deductions may be accepted
as the best that have been, or can be formulated in the current stage of
development. While he has reduced the enormous areas reported by
more hasty examiners to be underlaid with coal, to less than 20,000
square miles of ascertained and workable seams, by the tabulated esti-
mates which follow, based upon studious examination of the fields
described, we are advised that the supply is practically inexhaustible.
Here, again, he is the first to attempt an approximation of the
available tonnage of coal from the more prominent beds, and though
accuracy is not claimed, a basis for calculation is thereby afforded, and
the reader given an intelligent comprehension of the immense resources
of superior fuel stored away in the plains and mountains, for present
INTRODUCTORY. v
and future generations, as has been done by otner well informed geol-
ogists for Pennsylvania, Alabama, Illinois, Missouri and other coal
bearing States. Taken in connection with his observations preceding
and following these tables, we have, in place of wild guesswork, and
irresponsible statements, a trustworthy guide that may be followed to
rational conclusions.
The chapter which treats of the organization and work of the con-
vention that framed the fundamental law of Colorado, and laid the basis
of Statehood, was prepared by Judge H. P. H. Bromwell, because it was
deemed advisable in view of some recent attacks in our legislative bodies
upon certain provisions of that instrument, coupled with a demand for a
new convention and a revised charter, to have that subject discussed,
and clearly explained, by one thoroughly conversant with the manner of
its construction, the men who framed it, and the influences which actuated
them in the performance of their duties. It being the earnest desire of
all the surviving members consulted, that Mr. Bromwell should be
selected, because of his prominence in the convention, and their con-
fidence in his desire and ability to give it due and proper consideration
for permanent record, he was persuaded to undertake it. The result fully
justifies the wisdom of their choice.
During the compilation of this volume, I have been favored with a
large collection of historical notes from manifold sources, some of them
valuable contributions to the annals of the country, and while the greater
part relate to events occurring in the first years of settlement and may
be classed as reminiscences, they cannot well be omitted without
detracting from the original design of our labors, which is to embrace
everything worthy of record in the chronicles of our State and its people.
Hence, a place will somewhere be made for them, and also for much
other data of a similar character yet to be gathered from counties and
vi INTRODUCTORY.
towns, from which the present and coming generations may be apprised
of the struggles and adventures of the men who planted the seeds of
civilization here, and how they did it. A few such narratives will be
found in the succeeding pages.
And when the best that remain shall have been garnered, may we
not anticipate that some one more skilled in literature and romance, will
arise and weave them into thrilling song and story, as Joaquin Miller
and Bret Harte have done for the Sierras and for California ? Unknown,
perhaps, to many who may give these annals attentive reading, we have
in our midst one who is pre-eminently endowed with all the qualifications
for such a work, if he would undertake it, — Mr. Lewis B. France, who
has already published some of the most charming tales of the parks and
mountain trails that it has been our pleasure to read, and has in his
portfolio unpublished writings in which the public would find still deeper
enjoyment. With so much material at command, and with his superior
faculty for tracing with infinite delicacy of pathos and humor the lights
and shadows of romantic pioneer life, and withal capable of producing
scenes of wondrous beauty, they could be made a delight to all
dwellers in our land, and to thousands who have only witnessed its
rugged outlines. Colorado should be the center and home of Western
art, poetry and romance, for nowhere else is there to be found superior
attractions of life or environment. Mr. John Howland, Mrs. J. A.
Chain, Thomas Moran, Elkins and other artists have furnished some
superb pictures ; Mr. Powers a few specimens of fine sculpture ; let us
also have some skillful writers of poetry and fiction as supplements to
art. Mr. France, " Fitz Mac," Patience Stapleton and a few others
have published just enough to indicate their fine capabilities in this
direction, but there is a demand for more, which it is hoped will be
speedily supplied.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
An outline of Colorado geological history — condition of the continent
at the time of first emergence material of the earliest dry land
in colorado, and its probable origin arch/ean era life of the
ARCH^AN PALEOZOIC ERA — PRIMORDIAL ROCKS IN COLORADO— PROBABLE
LIFE OF THE PRIMORDIAL PERIOD OTHER SILURIAN ROCKS DEVONIAN ROCKS
CARBONIFEROUS AND PERMIAN ROCKS ABSENCE OF COAL IN THE CARBON-
IFEROUS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS — LIFE OF THE CARBONIFEROUS APPALA-
CHIAN REVOLUTION — MESOZOIC ERA — TRIASSIC ROCKS IN COLORADO — JURASSIC
ROCKS — ATLANTOSAURUS BEDS LOWER CRETACEOUS OF TEXAS DAKOTA CRE-
TACEOUS IN COLORADO MARINE CRETACEOUS LARAMIE EPOCH. - - l^
CHAPTER n.
Introductory remarks — laramie epoch — extent of the coal measures in
colorado grand river field vampa field la plata field raton field
northern colorado field north park field — canon city, south park,
and tongue mesa districts estimation of the area of the several coal
fields estimation of the probable tonnage of available coal in the
COMBINED COLORADO FIELDS PHYSICAL CONDITIONS ATTENDING THE CLOSE OF
THE LARAMIE EPOCH — LIFE OF THE LARAMIE. 4I
CHAPTER HI.
CeNOZOIC ERA — THE TERTIARY PERIOD GREAT FRESH- WATER LAKES OF THE TER-
TIARY EOCENE EPOCH, STAGES AND LIFE DISTURBANCES AT THE CLOSE OF THE
EOCENE— OLIGOCENE OF THE FLORISSANT BASIN MIOCENE EPOCH, STAGES AND
LIFE END OF THE CONTINENTAL REVOLUTION — PLIOCENE EPOCH AND LIFE
TOTAL ELEVATION OF THE LAND — QUATERNARY PERIOD— THE EPOCHS REPRE-
SENTED IN COLORADO LIFE OF THE QUATERNARY POSSIBLE EXISTENCE OF MAN
vii
viii CONTENTS.
IN COLORADO DURING THIS PERIOD EVOLUTION OF LIFE THROUGH THE CENO-
ZOIC ERA — ERUPTIVE ROCKS AND PAST IGNEOUS ACTIVITY— ORE-DEPOSITS OF
COLORADO CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE FORMATION OF ORE-BODIES — THEORET-
ICAL CONSIDERATIONS GEOLOGY OF SOME COLORADO MINING DISTRICTS IRON
ORES OIL-SHALES AND MARBLE MINERALS CONCLUDING REMARKS. - 64
CHAPTER IV.
1872— Success of the narrow gauge experiment— the Denver pacific consoli-
dated WITH THE KANSAS PACIFIC OUR FIRST RAILWAY WAR A YEAR OF
RAILWAY PROJECTS CENTRAL CITY ANTICIPATES A GOLDEN FUTURE COMPLETION
OF THE COLORADO CENTRAL TO BLACK HAWK BUILDING OF THE ARKANSAS
VALLEY RAILROAD TO PUEBLO W. I!. STRONG'S VISION OF A GREAT SOUTHERN
METROPOLIS — THE DENVER AND SOUTH PARK RAILWAY NARROW GAUGE CON-
VENTION IN ST. LOUIS OLD STAGING DAYS IN COLORADO— J. HARVEY JONES AND
HIS STAGE DRIVERS MOVED BACK BY THE IRON HORSE BANKING AND INTEREST
RATES — EXTRAVAGANCE GIVES WAY TO ECONOMY. 9I
CHAPTER V.
1872 — Founding of manufactures in Denver — john w. smith's woolen mill —
sinking an artesian well — the denver horse railway the denver water
company contracts with the city beet sugar attempts to establish
its manufacture — why they failed organization of free masons and
odd-fellows their struggles to secure a foothold resurrection of
THE STATE MOVEMENT J. B. CHAFFEE's WORK IN CONGRESS MEASURES PASSED
FOR THE BENEFIT OF COLORADO. - - - Ill
CHAPTER VI.
1872 — History of the great diamond swindle — universal excitement — how
THE PLOT WAS engineered THRILLING REPORTS OF WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES
GEMS WORTH MILLIONS DISCOVERY OF A MYSTERIOUS CITY DIAMOND STOCKS
IN SAN FRANCISCO GOVERNOR GILPIn's LECTURE ON THE SUBJECT JEWELS BY
THE CART LOAD CLARENCE KING EXPOSES THE FRAUD — FOREIGN BRILLIANTS
PLANTED IN SUMMIT COUNTY, COLORADO WHERE AND HOW THEY WERE
OBTAINED INTENSE INDIGNATION PHIL ARNOLD PROPOSES TO OPEN COURT
WITH A HENRY RIFLE — GAMBLERS AND GAMBLING. - . . . 126
CONTENTS. ix
CHAPTER VII.
1872 — Review of the year — murder of george bonacina by Theodore meiers
— capture, trial and execution of MEIERS — MURDER OF JOSIAH COPELAND
BY VAN HORN RIOTOUS ATTEMPTS TO LYNCH THE PRISONER HEROISM OF
SHERIFF COZENS — LEGAL EXECUTIONS DOWN TO 1888 — THE FIRST ADMINISTRATION
OF GOVERNOR m'COOK — APPOINTMENT OF GOVERNOR ELBERT — ARRIVAL OF PRES-
IDENT GRANT m'COOK'S SCHEME TO OUST ELBERT REMOVAL OF FEDERAL
OFFICERS— A GREAT POLITICAL UPHEAVAL DETAILS OF THE CONSPIRACY
INVOLVEMENT OF D. H. MOFFAT, CHAFFEE AND ELBERT THE LAS ANIMAS LAND
GRANT. 146
CHAPTER VIII.
1873-1874 — Installation of the new regime — exposure of m'cook's con-
tracts FOR supplying THE INDIANS — STRANGE APPROVAL OF A DIVORCE BILL
attempted removal OF TERRITORIAL OFFICERS — APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES
BRAZEE AND STONE — INDICTMENTS AND SUITS AGAINST MOFFAT, STANTON AND
COOK, AND THE RESULT — ELBERT's GREAT IRRIGATING CONVENTION PLAN FOR
RECLAIMING ARID LANDS M'COOK'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION THE PRESIDENT
RECOMMENDS THE ADMISSION OF COLORADO INTRODUCTION OF BILLS TO THAT
END BLACK FRIDAY AND THE PANIC OF 1873 — EFFECT ON DENVER BANKS. 166
CHAPTER IX.
HaYDEN'S GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS IN THE WEST — TREATY WITH UTE INDIANS — SUR-
RENDER OF THE SAN JUAN MINING REGION — MESSAGE OF CHIEF OURAY TO
GOVERNOR ELBERT BAKER's EXPEDITION AND HIS THRILLING ADVENTURES
LATER EXPLORATIONS FROM ARIZONA — SETTLEMENT OF THE SAN JUAN COUNTRY
IN 1872 — FOUNDING OF LAKE CITY. 187
CHAPTER X.
1873-74 — Financial condition of the territory in 1S73 — yields of agri-
culture—banks AND bankers — political dissensions — nomination of judge
BROMWELL and T. M. PATTERSON FOR CONGRESS THE SACRIFICE OF BROMWELL
AND THE ELECTION OF PATTERSON PROPERTY VALUES IN 1874— DESTRUCTIVE
VISITATIONS BY LOCUSTS EXTENT OF THEIR RAVAGES DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN
THE BLACK HILLS STAMPEDE TO THAT COUNTRY IN DEFIANCE OF TROOPS AND
ORDERS. - ■--- - 207
X CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XI.
Some old reminiscences of the founding of Denver — uncle dick wootten and
HIS exploits on the frontier general WILLIAM LARIMER LUCIEN B. MAX-
WELL AN IDYL of blue lizard GULCH. 226
CHAPTER XH.
Reminiscences continued — French explorations of Colorado and new mexico
in 1739-40 lives and characters of col. a. G. BOONE, AND COL. JOHN M.
FRANCISCO TOM TOBEN'S SLAUGHTER OF THE MURDEROUS ESPINOSAS SOME
RECOLLECTIONS OF OLD ZAN HICKLIN AND THE REBELLION OF MACE'S HOLE. 246
CHAPTER XHI.
Preparations for the admission of Colorado into the union — the bill
PASSES the house HEAVILY AMENDED IN THE SENATE OBJECTIONS OF EASTERN
PEOPLE SHARP EDITORIAL STRICTURES ON THE COUNTRY PERSISTENT OPPO-
SITION THE LONG FIGHT IN THE SENATE m'COOK's EFFORTS TO DEFEAT THE
BILL INFLUENCES OPERATING FOR AND AGAINST IT A MIGHTY BATTLE IN THE
HOUSE — MR. CHAFFEe's SPLENDID GENERALSHIP THE MEN WHO CARRIED THE
MEASURE — m'COOK RESIGNS AND JOHN L. ROUTT IS APPOINTED GOVERNOR
AN ALLEGORICAL PICTURE COLORADO ADMITTED — GATHERING OF POLITICAL
HOSTS. - - 268
CHAPTER XIV.
The CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION SYLLABUS OF MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED
CONDITION OF THE TERRITORY MEMBERS AND OFFICERS OF THE CONVENTION
ORGANIZATION ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT QUESTIONS CONSIDERED AT THE
BEGINNING CHARACTER OF THE DELEGATES APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES AND
ASSIGNMENTS OF WORK REPORTS RENDERED DISCUSSION OF THE MORE IMPORTANT
PROVISIONS MEMBERS WHO HAVE SINCE BEEN DISTINGUISHED OFFICERS OF STATE
— AN INCIDENT WHICH DETERMINED THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1876. 288
CHAPTER XV.
Area and boundary lines ok Colorado — character of the several divisions
gen. j. w. denver, and his stormy administration in kansas adoption
of our state constitution admission proclaimed by the president
CONTENTS.
XI
MEETING OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES — NOMINATIONS FOR STATE OFFICERS AND
FOR CONGRESS THE FAMOUS BELFORD-PATTERSON CONTEST COLORADO DECIDES
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1876 — EFFORTS TO DEPRIVE BELFORD OF HIS
SEAT IN CONGRESS. - - - 322
CHAPTER XVI.
BeLFORD sworn AND SEATED — THE STRUGGLE FOR THE FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS —
REVIEW OF THE GREAT CONTEST IN THE HOUSE A LONG AND REMARKABLE
DISCUSSION PATTERSON SEATED EVENTS SUCCEEDING THE RATIFICATION OF
THE CONSTITUTION MEETING OF THE FIRST STATE LEGISLATURE FINANCIAL
CONDITION OF THE NEW STATE — ELECTION OF U. S. SENATORS — SHORT BIOG-
RAPHIES OF CHAFFEE AND TELLER ELECTION OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS —
FIRST FEDERAL APPOINTEES — HALLETT, DECKER AND CAMPBELL. - - 342
CHAPTER XVH.
Progress of internal improvements — extensions of the rio grande railroad
— short history of the Atchison, topeka & santa fe — companies formed
in pueblo inception of war between the SANTA FE AND THE RIO GRANDE
FORCIBLE SEIZURE OF THE MOUNTAIN PASSES — ENGINEER MORLEY's FAMOUS
RIDE ARMED CONFLICT IN THE GRAND CANON ARREST OF m'mURTRIE AND
WEITBREC — A GREAT BATTLE IN THE COURTS LEASE OF THE RIO GRANDE TO
THE SANTA FE — MANAGER STRONG's AMBITION RENEWAL OF THE WAR JUDGE
BOWEN's WRITS RIOTING ALL ALONG THE LINE TROOPS CALLED OUT. - 363
CHAPTER XVHI.
General palmer's circular — causes of the collision — the rio grande seizes
THE ROAD — GREAT EXCITEMENT — GOVERNOR HUNT's TRIUMPHAL MARCH — BLOOD-
SHED AND CONFUSION — JUDGE HALLETT ORDERS RESTITUTION OF THE PROPERTY
— FIGHTING AT PUEBLO — DE REMER'S FORTS IN THE GRAND CANON — COL. ELLS-
WORTH APPOINTED RECEIVER THE LEASE CANCELED AND PEACE RESTORED
THE UNION PACIFIC AND KANSAS PACIFIC PRO-RATE WAR — A SHORT HISTORY OF
THE KANSAS PACIFIC ROAD — JAY GOULd's INGENIOUS OPERATIONS — CHAFFEE'S
SPEECH IN THE SENATE — CONSOLIDATION OF THE PACIFIC ROADS — HOW GOULD
TERRORIZED THE BOSTON MEN ABSORPTION OF THE DENVER PACIFIC. - 383
xii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX.
The COLORADO central railroad LOVELAND SEIZES THE ROAD AND SUCCESSFULLY
HOLDS IT HOW IT WAS ACCOMPLISHED DESTRUCTIVE STORMS AND FLOODS
D. H. MOFFAT APPOINTED RECEIVER FORCIBLE ABDUCTION OF JUDGE STONE
CARRIED INTO THE MOUNTAINS BY MASKED MEN ALARMING RUMORS TROOPS
CALLED OUT MOFFAT'S NARROW ESCAPE — STONE's EXPERIENCE WITH HIS CAP-
TORS— EXTENSION OF THE ROAD TO FORT COLLINS AND CHEYENNE. - 406
CHAPTER XX.
Primitive records of lake county — two great epochs — organization under
THE territory — GULCH MINING DISCOVERY OF THE PRINTER BOY ORIGINAL
DISCOVERY OF CARBONATES — STEVENS AND WOOD THE IRON SILVER MINES
OTHER IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES THE DAWN OF LEADVILLE GREAT MINES AND
THEIR PRODUCTS OPENING FRYER HILL TABOR, RISCHE AND HOOK — THE ROB-
ERT E. LEE GOVERNOR ROUTT FINDS HIS FORTUNE — W. S. WARD AND THE
EVENING STAR. - 525
CHAPTER XXI.
LeADVILLE CONTINUED — INCREASED IMMIGRATION — ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS BUILDING OF SMELTERS THE GRANT SMELTING COMPANY
RATES PAID FOR ORES — BEGINNING OF THE BOOM CONDITION OF SOCIETY IN
THE PLUNGING PERIOD COLLAPSE OF THE LITTLE PITTSBURGH— EFFECT UPON THE
COUNTRY THE GREAT MINERS* STRIKE IN 1879 DECLARATION OF MARTIAL LAW
BY GOVERNOR PITKIN. 446
CHAPTER XXII.
Hard times of i876-'77 — dawn of a new era in 1878 — first great immigration
to leadville effect upon the state — building of the clarendon hotel
discovery of robinson mines in summit county tragic death of lieu-
tenant governor robinson — completion of the rio grande railroad —
discoveries in chaffee, gunnison and pitkin counties — influence of lead-
ville on state politics — founding of newspapers banks and bankers
leadville as a smeltingpoint. 465
CONTENTS. xiii
CHAPTER XXIII.
lS7S-'79— REVIEW OF THE YEAR RAPID DEVELOPMENT RETIREMENT OF W. N. BYERS
FROM THE "news" HIS SERVICES TO THE COUNTRY JOHN L. DAILEY TRANSFER
OF THE "news" to W. A. H. LOVELAND DEMOCRATIC STATE CONVENTION
PROPOSED DIVISION OF THE STATE REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION — F. W.
PITKIN ELECTED GOVERNOR RETIREMENT OF SENATOR J. B. CHAFFEE ELECTION
OF N. P. HILL TO THE SENATE^SERVICES IN THAT BODY. - - - 480
CHAPTER XXIV
Indian affairs — some reflections on the attitude of the government
TOWARD ITS wards VIOLATIONS OF TREATIES FATHER MEEKER's ATTEMPT
TO CIVILIZE THE UTES, AND ITS TRAGIC ENDING — THE MASSACRE OF THORNBURG
AND HIS MEN — ARRIVAL OF GEN. MERRITT — MASSACRE OF MEEKER AND HIS
EMPLOYES — THE WOMEN CARRIED INTO CAPTIVITY — THEIR RESCUE BY OURAY
AND GEN. ADAMS THE INVESTIGATION SKETCH OF THE GREAT CHIEF OURAY
HIS LIFE AND CHARACTER— CHIEF, STATESMAN AND DIPLOMAT. - - 494
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
VOLUME II.
PAGE.
H. M. Teller '. Frontispiece.
O. A. Whittemore 1 1^
Louis Dugal 170
E. P. Jacobson 176
John A. Hanna 208
Geo. W. Kassler 210
A. J. Williams 228
George C. Corning 240
Henry Crow 260
J. D. Ward 278
J. H. Platt 284
C. P. Elder 292
W. E. Beck 300
Casimero Barela 312
P. H. VanDiest 324
Alvin Marsh 330
G. W. Miller 332
J. B. Belford . . 342
T. M. Patterson 350
W. D. Anthony 356
Otto Mears 360
PAGE.
D. C. Dodge 364
J. A. MCMURTRIE 368
A. N. Rogers 384
F. B.Crocker 402
A. W. Brazee 417
Iron-Silver Mine 424
H. A. W. Tabor 430
Geo. T. Hook 436
John L. Routt 442
Edward Eddy 446
W. H. James 448
J. B. Grant 45 1
W. H. Bush 454
John Arkins 460
James Burnell 470
John L. Dailey 4S0
F. W. Pitkin 486
Dr. R. G. Buckingham 488
J. P. Maxwell 492
Chas. H. Toll 496
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER I.
An outline of Colorado geological history — condition of the continent
at the time of first emergence material of the earliest dry land
in colorado, and its probable origin arch.^an era life of the
arch^an paleozoic era — primordial rocks in colorado — probable
life of the primordial period other silurian rocks — devonian rocks
carboniferous and permian rocks absence of coal in the carbon-
iferous of the rocky mountains life of the carboniferous— appala-
chian revolution — mesozoic era — triassic rocks in colorado — jurassic
rocks — atlantosaurus beds — lower cretaceous of texas — dakota cre-
taceous in colorado marine cretaceous laramie epoch.
When the mineral wealth of Colorado is considered, the impor-
tance of her various metalliferous deposits, the immense reserves of her
coal measures and mineral resources of lesser note, it becomes apparent
how largely the operation of geological causes has contributed to the
growth and prosperity of the State. Even the rugged grandeur of the
Colorado panorama is but the final expression, rarely more strongly
emphasized, of the effects produced by the same causes, acting through
countless ages of time.
The geological history of a country, thus favored \\ith the treas-
ures of the mineral kingdom, is replete with matters of intense interest
not only to the student of science, but to educated and intelligent per-
sons generally ; hence, its introduction in a popular form, into these
pages, requires no apology. Indeed, rather is it to be regretted, that a
subject so nearly related to our industrial development, could not, con-
18 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
sistent with the dimensions of this worlc, be afforded the space it
deserves.
It would not be possible, within the limits assigned, to present
more than a brief outline of what pertains to the geological record, itself
necessarily incomplete, and, as in all newly settled countries, but yet
imperfectly interpreted. Without reverting, in more than general
terms, to the remote past, when, as we have good reason to believe, the
earth was an incandescent fluid globe, or to a period still more remote
when, in accordance with the nebular hypothesis, the entire solar system
existed as a highly attenuated vapor, it will suffice for the present pur-
pose if we follow in chronological order, the successive stages of geolog-
ical development, beginning with the appearance of the first dry land
in the region now embraced in the State of Colorado.
At that time the continent of North America was mainly sub-
merged beneath the sea, although in a general way, its existing con-
tour was already outlined in the ocean depths. The most extensive
land surface was north of the great lakes. A group of islands, for
the most part corresponding to the Appalachians and Adirondacks,
stretched southward near the present Atlantic border ; while far to the
westward, more remote from the main continental area, and separated
by a broad expanse of ocean, were other similar islands corresponding
to the Rocky Mountains and neighboring parallel ranges. It is with
the most easterly islands of this ancient western archipelago, that we
are chiefly concerned ; for they formed a nearly continuous land surface,
trending north and south, through the central part of Colorado; areas
that were never again completely submerged, the debris resulting from
their degradation being found in the sediments of all succeeding geolog-
ical periods.
The material of the first dry land consisted solely of granites,
gneisses or allied rocks, already highly crystalline even before their
emergence from the surrounding ocean.
The granites, and associated crystalline rocks, have a world-wide
distribution, being everywhere recognized as the lowest in the geolog-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 19
ical scale, no pre-existing, or more ancient, types being anywhere
exposed to view. They ought not, however, to be regarded as a part
of the original, unaltered, or first-formed crust of the earth. The
theory of terrestrial evolution at present accepted, as most in harmony
with physical laws, requires the first-formed crust to have been a super-
ficial consolidation of the original fluid mass, resulting simply from loss
of heat ; hence, the earliest rocks were probably similar to known types
of highly crystalline lavas, — that is, they belonged to the large class
included under the general term eruptives.
The ancient granites and gneisses do not partake of the characters
common to rocks which have resulted from lava consolidation ; on the
contrary they belong, more properly, to another large class of rocks,
apparently produced by the slow crystallization (metamorphism) of sed-
imentary deposits, through long-continued subjection to elevated tem-
peratures in presence of water, and probably great pressure. These are
termed metamorphic rocks, and the granite series may be regarded as
the extreme term of such metamorphism, the varieties being, simply,
aggregations of easily recognized, definite mineral species. Evidently,
the origin of this class of rocks must have been subsequent to the time
of first consolidation, or what may be termed the first stage of rock for-
mation, and should rather be referred to the second stage, during
which, the hydrothermal conditions necessary to metamorphism, first
came into existence.
Following the first superficial consolidation, came long ages of con-
stant but gradual cooling, accompanied by slow thickening of the solid
crust, until finally the temperature of the surface was reduced to the
point at which the condensation of water became possible. This was
the beginning of the second stage of rock formation. Degradation
and sculpturing of the surface began with the advent of water, and,
considering the conditions then existing, the effects must have been
stupendous ; for the temperature of the earliest seas, probably exceeded
the boiling point, while from an atmosphere saturated with steam, and
acid vapors, ceaseless torrents of hot rain were precipitated. The sur-
20 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
face of the globe was one vast cauldron. Water was then the all-
powerful agent in the work of breaking up, and reconstructing, the
material of the original crust. Nor was its action restricted to rapid
mechanical erosion. In its heated and highly mineralized condition, it
was capable of bringing about wide-spread chemical changes, not only
in the nature of the decomposition but in the reorganization of material
into mineral aggregates. The water of the ancient seas thus heated,
and charged with mineral substances, was doubtless one of the principal
factors involved in the metamorphism of the rocks of the earlier series,
to which the greater part, if not the whole, of the granite rocks of the
globe in all probability belong.
Some geologists even maintain that the hot, saturated water of the
primitive seas was \\i& principal agent in the formation of granite and
alHed rocks. This view, however, has not received much support, the
most general conclusion being that complete metamorphism could only
result from the subsidence of sediments to depths where the tem-
perature was sufficiently high to induce chemical action. The latter view
is, no doubt, most in keeping with observed facts, and may be largely
true, yet it will hardly account for the universal and complete meta-
morphism of the oldest sediments, or, to speak more plainly, of the ex-
istence everywhere of a granite substructure.
The question of the origin of granite is still an open one, conse-
quently, its discussion would exceed the scope of this work. It is
merely necessary to state here that, beyond doubt, the process of
granite formation required the presence of water at comparatively
high temperatures, and under considerable pressure, and that the water
of the ancient seas was active in bringing about consolidation of the
earlier sedimentary accumulations, or was even capable of transforming
them to some extent into crystalline aggregates, — that is, of inducing
the first stages of metamorphism.
Considering how infinitely prolonged must have been the time
during which the above causes were in operation, and also their com-
paratively great activity, it is not surprising that the first-formed crust
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 21
has — at least as regards its original character — long ago disappeared,
or become deeply buried under vast detrital accumulations long since
transformed into highly crystalline granites and gneisses.
The long period of time associated with these changes, probably
greater than all subsequent time up to the present, is usually termed by
geologists the Archaean Era. The granite rocks of Colorado and
other parts of the world, were formed during Archaean times ; conse-
quently, so far as we can judge, the first important emergence of the
land did not take place until toward its close, and the earliest land
areas, as we know them, were really such as existed during the first
period of the succeeding or Palaeozoic Era. Hence, our geological history
really begins with the dawn of the Palaeozoic, whose successive periods
were so many stages in the progressive development of the ancient
systems of terrestrial life.
It begins with the earliest record of the actual existence of life, as
clearly demonstrated by fossil remains. Regarding the previous exist-
ence of life we possess no absolute proof, although there is sufficient
evidence, of an indirect nature, to warrant the conclusion that to-
ward the latter part of the Archaean, the lower forms of organisms
were abundantly represented.
The form and extent of the Colorado land-surface, at the opening
of the Palaeozoic, can only be outlined in a general way. The Archaean
areas, as defined by Hayden, simply represent the Archaean rocks now
exposed, and not the dry land actually existing at the beginning of
Palaeozoic times.
Beyond question the dry land of that period must have been much
more extensive than at any subsequent time in Palaeozoic history ; for
throughout this era there was a gradual subsidence during which an
enormous thickness of sediments, derived from the exposed areas
through erosion, was deposited. Thus a large part of the first dry land
Avas again slowly submerged, and became deeply buried under the con-
stantly accumulating sediments resulting from its own degradation.
The map at the beginning of this chapter represents the probable
22 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
form and extent, of the Colorado land-surface at the dawn of the
Palaeozoic. The shore contour is merely an approximation, and the
area indicated was very much less at the beginning of the succeeding
era; while the two main islands, although probably separated during
the Silurian, were joined by a narrow isthmus toward the north during
or preceding the Carboniferous Age.
Judging from the extent and thickness of stratified rocks, whick
could only be derived from this land-surface, through its denudation,
the mean elevation must have been very great ; surpassing anything
known of like areas at the present day. One can only imagine the
landscape of these ancient islands, — if indeed it was ever visible through
the dense mists of the humid atmosphere, — to have been marked by
extremely high mountains, and very deep gorges, with a general surface
rough, water-scored, rocky, and utterly devoid of animal or vegetable life.
All the divisions of the Palceozoic, from the Cambrian to the
Permo-Carboniferous inclusive, are probably represented, to a greater
or less extent, in the geological sections of Colorado. The lower divis-
ions however, appear to be wanting in characters whereby they can be
specifically identified or defined, and with the possible exception of the
Cambrian have nowhere a thickness approaching that developed by cor-
responding Paleeozoic strata in the region of the Appalachians. This
statement is true so far as regards this part of the Rocky Mountains ;
but the development in the Wahsatch is very much greater, the total
thickness of FaL-eozoic strata being reported by Clarence King at 32,000
feet. The Pakeozoic rocks of Northeastern Colorado, — that is, those
exposed along the base of the Front Range, — probably do not exceed
1,000 feet in thickness. In Southeastern Colorado, along the Sangre
de Cristo Range, they probably attain a thickness of 4,000 feet, pos-
sibly more, since the existence of transitional beds — consisting of an
enormous thickness of sandstones — renders it difficult to determine
where the Palceozoic ends, and the Mesozoic begins. In the Mosquito
Range, according to S. F. Emmons, the Palaeozoic rocks develop a
total thickness of 4,000 feet; while in the San Juan Mountains of
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 23
Southwestern Colorado, the corresponding rocks have a maximum thick-
ness of not less than 15,000 feet. All the Palzeozoic strata were sub-
sequently buried under more recent sediments, the latter generally
overlapping along the shore-line ; and since the former were deposited
on a sloping surface, they were thinner along the old shores than else-
where. From which it follows that the thickness exposed will be greatest
in localities where the old shore-deposits have been deeply eroded. In
describing the Palaeozoic beds of Colorado it will be best to take them
in their occurring order, beginning with the lowest in the scale.
SILURIAN SYSTEM. CAMBRIAN OR PRIMORDIAL PERIOD.
Of the Cambrian rocks, or what have been provisionally assigned
to this period, the greatest thickness developed is in the San Juan Moun-
tains in Ouray County. They consist of quartzites, slates, and quartz
conglomerates, aggregating from 10,000 to 12,000 feet in thickness,
exposed in the gorge of the Uncompahgre River above Ouray. This
great development of Cambrian strata, nearly equal to that observed in
the Wahsatch Mountains, is altogether local, probably owing to the fact
that the sedimentary beds have been more deeply eroded on the Un-
compahgre than on any stream draining the western slope of the San
Juan Mountains, except the Rio Las Animas. On the branches of the
Rio San Miguel erosion has not even exposed the uppermost of the
Palaeozoic strata ; while on the Rio Dolores the Cambrian quartzite is
barely exposed in the mouth of Silver Creek, by the erosion of a great
anticlinal uplift cut by the river. Rocks, part of which may be Cam-
brian, are exposed in the Needle Mountains south of the Rio Las
Animas. These three exposures probably belong to one and the same
series of beds extending beneath, and hidden by overlapping strata of
more recent age. The remaining Cambrian exposures of Colorado, so
far as known, are by comparison quite insignificant. Emmons reports
only 200 feet in thickness as being developed in the Mosquito Range,
and but 50 feet in Manitou Park. Quartzites which Hayden refers to
the Silurian, but which may contain some Cambrian, are exposed on
24 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Grand River between Glenwood Springs and Dotsero, and extending
northward, cover a portion of the White River Plateau.
Regarding the Hfe of this period in Colorado little is yet known,
and at present its character can only be inferred from the remains
abounding in other regions, and which conclusively show the world-wide
distribution of the dominant types. The Primordial rocks of the globe
contain the oldest known faunal remains, which are represented in
Europe, and different parts of Eastern North America, notably also in
Nevada and Utah, largely by Crustaceans (Trilobites) belonging to
genera of Olenellus, Paradoxides, Olenus, etc. These are associated
-with Mollusks, representing species of Brachiopods, Gastropods, Cepha-
lopods and Pteropods. The only plants were sea-weeds. Marine
worms, and sponges, also made their appearance in this period, and
Echinoderms toward its close.
The dominant forms were Crustaceans, which were comparatively
numerous, and the individuals of remarkably large size. All of the
species, and several of the genera, became extinct at the end of the
Cambrian. The oldest rocks of this period contain the remains of a
genus of Crustaceans called Olenellus, which, with certain associated
forms are collectively termed the Olenellus- fauna, and the horizon at
which they are found, the Olenellus zone. Usually, where this zone
has been identified in the West, it is underlaid by a considerable thick-
ness of Pre-Cambrian stratified rocks ; hence, the probability that part
of our Colorado Cambrian may be Pre-Cambrian, or Algonkian as
defined by Walcott. It is interesting, in connection with this oldest of
known faunas, to note the high degree of perfection already attained by
animal life. Contrary to what might have been expected, we find the
Crustaceans among the largest of the kind ever known ; while among
Mollusks several of the grand divisions of the present time were well
represented. These facts lead one to conclude that, between this
period and the Archaean, there existed long ages of organic devel-
opment of which the record is still wanting, and during which these
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 25
highly organized types were slowly evolved from the primitive forms
indirectly shown to have swarmed in late Archaean seas.
The presence of a typical Cambrian fauna in Utah, Nevada, and
Arizona, in rocks deposited in the bed of the same sea, renders it highly
probable that similar forms abounded along the Cambrian shores of
Colorado, notwithstanding the scarcity of fossils in the few localities
where they have been searched for.
The remaining Silurian rocks of the West have nowhere attained
a development approaching that of the underlying Primordial.
In Middle Nevada, according to King, the Silurian, exclusive of the
Cambrian and Quebec, has a total thickness of 2,000 feet ; and,
according to the same authority, but half this thickness is exposed in
the Wahsatch Mountains. In Colorado but 200 feet is reported by
Emmons in the Mosquito Range. It has been identified in several
localities in Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico by characteristic
fossils, mostly of the age of the Canadian and Trenton Periods of the
Lower Silurian (Ordovician).
The rocks are usually limestones which, in Colorado, rarely contain
fossils. The limestone exposed just above Ouray on the Uncompahgre,
and which underlies, uncomformably, the strata of the Carboniferous
there so conspicuously developed, probably belongs to the Post-
Cambrian portion of the Silurian, judging from the lithological suc-
cession observed elsewhere in the West. Rocks of corresponding age,
cover a considerable part of the White River Plateau.
Among the rocks frequently exposed is a pinkish colored sandstone
containing numerous worm-burrows, in some places normal to the planes
of bedding like the Scolithus of the Potsdam sandstone. Silurian strata,
of limited thickness, are often present at the base of the upturned sedi-
mentaries, bordering the several Archaean areas, but are not deemed of
sufficient importance to demand special mention.
While the evidence of life afforded by the Silurian rocks of
Colorado, is of the most meager description, it does not follow that the
conditions were altogether unfavorable for its existence, — for, no doubt,
26 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
subsequent alteration of the rocks has had much to do with the oblit-
eration of the life-record. In the Appalachian region, and in Europe,
the strata of this age afford a marine fauna rich in species. Land-plants,
represented mostly by Club-mosses, first made their appearance at
about the middle of the age, and in Europe, Vertebrates (fishes) also.
These were the precursors of the life which attained such an expansion
during the remainder of the Palaeozoic.
DEVONIAN SYSTEM.
This system of rocks, so well defined in Europe and Eastern North
America, is, so far as known, barely represented in Colorado. Pinkish,
or red-colored, sandstones, bordering the Archaean, near Canon City,
appear to contain characteristic Devonian fossils.
The upper part of the beds referred to the Silurian may really
belong to the Devonian ; a question which has not yet been decided,
owing to the absence of palaeontological evidence. King reports the
Devonian quartzite and conglomerate as 2,400 feet thick in the
Wahsatch Mountains, and 2,000 feet thick in Middle Nevada. The
quartzites and conglomerates exposed around Treasury Mountain, in
Gunnison County, may, on the ground of lithological similarity and
order of succession, be referred to the Devonian, and for the same
reasons the underlying limestones are probably Silurian.
The remarks made with regard to the paucity of organic remains in
the Silurian rocks of Colorado are equally applicable to the Devonian
rocks. In other parts of the world they abound in fossils, indicating
that the earth teemed not only with animal but Avith vegetable life, and
with forms much higher in the scale of development than are found to
have existed in the preceding age. The land was clothed for the first
time with forests of coniferous trees, — with Lepidodendrons, Sigillaria,
Calamites and ferns ; while the seas swarmed with Ganoid and Placoid
fishes, covered with bony plates or scales, and possessing characters
which allied them in part to the reptiles. True fishes (Teleosts) and
true reptiles were, however, yet unknown ; nor did the Devonian veg-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 27
etation reach the exuberant growth which characterized the forests of
the succeeding age.
CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM.
The rocks of this system in Colorado are better defined and more
evenly distributed than those of either the Silurian or Devonian systems.
They are usually separated into three divisions, corresponding to
the three periods of this age, viz.: The Sub-Carboniferous, the Car-
boniferous proper, or coal measures, and the Permo-Carboniferous. In
the Wahsatch Mountains and in Middle Nevada the strata of the three
periods aggregate about 15,000 feet, of which about one-half is lime-
stone. In Colorado the Carboniferous varies in thickness from a few
hundred to nearly 5,000 feet, according to the distance of the exposures
from the old shore-line, — or, in other words, according to the amount of
erosion. The line of demarkation is generally clearly defined at the
base, owing to angular non-conformity with the underlying rocks. At
the top of the Carboniferous series it is rarely possible to separate defi-
nitely the occasionally fossiliferous sandstones of the Permo-Carbonif-
erous from the non-fossiliferous sandstones at the base of the overlying
Mesozoic, — that is, the two blend insensibly into one another. The same
absence of demarkation is generally observed at the junction of the
Permo-Carboniferous with the coal measures. Between the latter and
the Sub-Carboniferous the line of separation is usually well defined.
Throughout the Carboniferous exposures of Colorado there exists
a common and easily recognized lithological similarity. The Sub-Car-
boniferous consists mainly of limestone ; the coal measures of gypsiferous
clays and shales, with more or less inter-bedded sandstone, — the latter
predominating in Southwestern Colorado, — while the Permo-Carbon-
iferous consists largely of variegated sandstones frequently conglom-
eritic. Coal is rarely present in the true coal measures, having been
observed at only three localities, viz.: Near Villa Grove, in the San Luis
Valley, at Aspen just over the ore-zone, and near the head of the Huer-
fano River. None of the coal beds are of workable size except the one
28 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
near Villa Grove, and the coal is in each case of inferior quality.
Probably the best defined exposure of the entire series of Carboniferous
strata occurs on the Rio Las Animas in La Plata County. The series
is also well exposed at different points in Garfield, Pitkin and Eagle
Counties, especially near Glenwood, and above Dotsero on Grand River,
likewise in the Mosquito Range, and along the eastern flank of the
Sangre de Cristo Range.
The life of the Carboniferous in Colorado, in common with that
found elsewhere in the rocks of this age in the West, was throughout
mainly marine ; while in Eastern North America and in Europe the
coal measures were mainl)- fresh water deposits, as shown by the
numerous seams of coal, and by the remains of a luxuriant land
vegetation.
Nowhere throughout the Rocky Mountains does it appear that the
conditions necessary for the formation of coal (extensive swamps and
exuberance of vegetable life) ever had more than a comparatively brief
and extremely local existence. Sedimentation took place either in deep
waters surrounding a precipitous coast, or along the shores of seas with
strong currents ; in the former case giving rise to calcareous deposits,
and in the latter to sandstones and conglomerates. The Rio Las
Animas strata are highly fossiliferous, especially below the mouth of
Hermosa Creek, where crinoid stems, bryozoans, and characteristic
Carboniferous marine shells are quite abundant. The remains of a few
land plants, mostly ferns, are present in the exposures along the stage
road running from Rockwood to Rico. Permo-Carboniferous shells are
abundant at one point in the pinkish, or purplish, coarse sandstone
exposed on the hillside a short distance west of Hermosa Creek.
Marine fossils are likewise quite numerous in some of the Carboniferous
strata above Dotsero on Grand River, especially near the mouth of
Sweetwater Creek. Elsewhere in this series fossils are less abundant,
though careful search will generally reveal them.
The great Palaeozoic Era terminates with the Permo-Carboniferous,
and the close of this period witnessed, everywhere, the extinction not
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 29
only of all Palaeozoic species, but of nearly all the genera. The
Permian was the period of transition from the Palaeozoic to the Meso-
zoic, — from the ancient life era to the middle life era. In it the types
of ancient life still predominated ; while as precursors of the coming
life true reptiles made their appearance, amphibious having already
appeared earlier in the Carboniferous.
Comparing the Rocky Mountain Palaeozoic with the corresponding
era in Eastern North America, these facts are noticeable, — that the
amount of sedimentation was much less, — that the conditions for the
existence of life were probably less favorable, — that during the coal
period the topographical conditions were unsuited to the growth of
extensive swamps or marshes, necessary for the formation of continuous
beds of coal, and finally, — that the era was not brought to a close by
grand dynamic manifestations such as marked the great Appalachian
revolution. The transition from the Paljeozoic to the Mesozoic in Col-
orado took place without any serious break in the continuity of subsi-
dence and sedimentation, so that the non-conformity between the rocks
of the two ages is much less strongly marked than that already noted
between the Carboniferous and the strata of Silurian or Cambrian Age.
MESOZOIC ERA.
This is the second grand division of time as applied to the develop-
ment of terrestrial life, and the third in geological history. The three
systems which it includes, the Triassic, the Jurassic, and the Creta-
ceous, are all represented in Colorado, the latter especially, beside being
the best defined and most extensively developed geological system in
the State, is likewise economically considered the most important, for it
was the great coal-forming period of Western North America ; in this
respect bearing the same relation to Rocky Mountain geology, that the
Carboniferous does to the Appalachian.
The close of the Palaeozoic witnessed a marked change in the geog-
raphy of the continent. By the Appalachian revolution nearly all the
country east of the Mississippi, to the Atlantic shore-line, was perma-
30 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
nently elevated above the ocean level, forming an extensive land area in
its main features corresponding to what we now find. In the country
west of the Wahsatch, sedimentation continued on through the Triassic,
when that portion of the continent also began to rise, and was probably
dry land at the beginning of the Cretaceous. In the Rocky Mountain
region, however, from Eastern Kansas to the Wahsatch Range, subsi-
dence was more or less continuous throughout the entire Mesozoic, and
the Colorado land areas were still but islands in the inter-continental sea.
The dry land of the far western part of the State, remaining unsub-
merged at the close of the Carboniferous, ceased to be such at the
opening of the Mesozoic, for we find there the earliest sediments of this
era reposing directly on the Archsean ; indicating that this portion had
not previously received sediments, and that it was formerly a Palaeozoic
island. The depression now represented by the basins of North and
Middle Parks, which was probably a submerged area during the Palae-
zoic, although without any clearly established ocean connection, was
undoubtedly submerged to a still greater extent during the Mesozoic,
and formed a large salt-water bay directly connected by a narrow outlet
with the main sea to the westward.
The two principal islands shown on the map as probably entirely
separated during the early part of the Palaeozoic were, as previously
stated, no doubt permanently connected toward the north during the
Carboniferous, and so remained throughout the Mesozoic. As all the
systems of this era possess points of interest, it will be best to describe
them separately, beginning with the beds of the oldest.
TRIASSIC PERIOD.
Of the Colorado rocks referred to this period only the lower, non-
fossiliferous portion can be regarded, with any degree of probability, as
the equivalent of Triassic beds elsewhere. The middle and upper por-
tions, found to be fossiliferous in Southwestern Colorado, are probably
the equivalent of similar strata in New Mexico ; referred by Prof. New-
berry, on palaiontological grounds, to the horizon of the Rhetic beds of
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 31
Europe, which are considered as passage-beds between the Triassic and
Jurassic systems as there developed.
The Rocky Mountain Triassic series has been designated Jura-Trias
by Hayden, Le Conte and others, in view of the possibility that the
extreme upper portion may be of Jurassic age. There is very little
doubt but the upper members of the system as developed in Colorado,
are older than the Jurassic of Europe, while the lower members are
probably referable to the Triassic proper, so far as they can be separated
from similar fossiliferous rocks belonging to the Permo-Carboniferous.
This separation is not easy anywhere in the State, and in a few places,
notably on the eastern flank of the Sangre de Cristo, the passage-beds
between the strata evidently of Carboniferous age on the one hand, and
of Triassic age on the other, are probably over 2,000 feet thick west of
the Spanish Peaks. To a less extent the same is true all over Colorado
where these beds outcrop, — there is always a non-fossiliferous zone of
heavy-bedded sandstone, merging into the recognizable Triassic above
and into the Carboniferous below, without any defined line of demarka-
tion between them.
On the eastern flank of the Front Range the entire series is non-
fossiliferous, and rests directly on the Archaean. The strata are assigned
to the Triassic principally on account of their position with reference to
the overlying Jurassic beds, their lithological character, and prevailing
brick-red color. This pronounced coloration, so commonly observed in
the Triassic of the Rocky Mountains, has led to their being designated
the " Red Beds," a term often applied to the system in the West. The
red sandstone so much used for building in Denver is mostly of this age.
One of the most familiar occurrences of Triassic rocks is the red
sandstone so conspicuously exposed at the gateway to the Garden of the
Gods. The same bed of sandstone outcrops frequently along the base
of the Front Range northward to the Wyoming line ; while southward
it is found at Canon City, in the Greenhorn Mountains, and along the
eastern base of the Sangre de Cristo, where it is continuously exposed,
underlying the Jurassic clays and shales as in Northern Colorado.
32 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
The Red Beds are yet more fully developed west of the continental
divide. From the northern to the southern boundary of the State, and
throughout the western part, in localities high up toward the summits of
the mountains, and in the deep gorges of all the principal streams,
Triassic rocks are frequently exposed. Among the most noteworthy
occurrences may be mentioned those along the main Grand River, and
its tributaries, the Roaring Fork and Eagle River.
Conspicuous examples may be seen in the exposures at Red
Canon, Glenwood, and North Caiion Creek on the main stream ; and
around Mount Sopris on the Crystal River branch of Roaring Fork.
The most complete series of Triassic rocks in Colorado is found
in the southwestern part of the State. They are exceptionally well
developed on the western slope of the San Juan Mountains, — on the
Rio Las Animas, — on the Rio Dolores for a large part of its length, —
on the Rio San Miguel, — on the Uncompahgre, in fact, on every prin-
cipal stream tributary to the Grand and San Juan.
Probably the most typical section is that seen in the valley of the
Rio Las Animas where, in addition to the Red Beds, all the geological
terranes of the State, from the Carboniferous to the Wahsatch Tertiary
inclusive, are clearly exposed in stratagraphical order, dipping westerly
and successively disappearing as they reach the level of the river. In
the Rio Animas section the Triassic includes three fairly well marked
divisions, consisting of about 1,200 feet of brownish-red sandstone at
the base, 200 feet of brick-red sandstone at the top, and at the middle
about 200 feet of alternating calcareous conglomerate and drab-colored
sandstones. This middle division is the fossiliferous zone of the series,
and can be traced northward to the Rio San Miguel; but with the
upper division thins out entirely just north of that stream. It does not
appear in Northwestern Colorado unless represented by a thin bed of
similar conglomerate, containing bone fragments, occurring on Red Dirt
Creek near Grand River. The drab-colored sandstones have yielded
imprints of land jilants, and on the San Miguel, specimens of imper-
fectly preserved fishes probably allied to the genus Catopterus common
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 33
in the Triassic rocks of the Atlantic coast. The bands of conglomerate
invariably contain reptilian remains consisting of teeth and scattered
fragments of bone.
Throughout the Triassic Period the deposits were formed in
shallow seas, and frequently subjected to the action of strong currents ;
hence, the conditions were favorable to the production of sandstones
and conglomerates, and unfavorable to the production of limestones and
other rocks of deep-sea origin. The general absence of the latter, and
of the remains of marine life, are marked features of the exposures of
this age in the Rocky Mountains.
Reptiles, which first made their appearance near the close of the
Palaeozoic Era, are everywhere recognized as the dominant class in the
animal life of the Triassic Period, and to have so continued through the
remainder of the Mesozoic; for which reason the latter has been appro-
priately styled the Age of Reptiles. The abundance of fragmentary
saurian remains in the bone-conglomerate of the southwestern part of
the State, and the paucity of all other animal remains in the same beds,
indicates very strongly that the reptilian was also the dominant form
during the Colorado Triassic ; though as compared with other parts of
the world the system is less well-defined, and the life but little
known.
JURASSIC PERIOD.
The rocks of this period in Colorado are nearly co-extensive with
the Red Beds which they succeed, and even in the few localities where
they have not been recognized, certain beds are found which may be
partly, or wholly, of Jurassic age.
Along the eastern base of the Front Range the system is represented
principally by limestones, shales, and variegated clays, of which the
uppermost strata are designated by Marsh the Atlantosaurus Beds, from
the remains therein discovered of a genus of Dinosaurs, — the most
gigantic of known reptiles, living or extinct. The enormous bones of
this Dinosaur were first brought to light, by the explorations of Prof. A
Lakes, of Golden, in the Jurassic beds along the foot-hills.
34 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
West of the continental divide the beds of this age are litho-
logically similar to those of the Front Range, but have nowhere a thick-
ness of more than a few hundred feet. They are usually present in the
Mesozoic sections of Northwestern Colorado and have been identified by
Hayden on the Rio Dolores, and elsewhere in Southwestern Colorado.
Typical Jurassic beds have not been reported as occurring in the San
Juan Mountains, though on the upper San Miguel a limited thickness of
non-fossiliferous strata, sandwiched in between the Red Beds and the
Dakota Cretaceous, and containing bituminous limestone, is thought to
be of this age.
Along the eastern base of the Sangre de Cristo Range, from the
Huerfano River southward to the line of New Mexico and probably
beyond, there are exposures of typical Jurassic beds underlying the
upturned, and usually quite prominent, Dakota sandstone.
Jurassic beds are likewise well exposed in Wyoming, from which
the remains of marsupial mammals have been identified and described by
Marsh.
The presence of some limestone in the Rocky Mountain Jurassic
indicates the occasional existence of marine conditions. At other times
lacustrine conditions prevailed, and the beds may be in part of brackish-
water or fresh water origin.
While plant life is not represented, the remains of huge herbiverous
reptiles point strongly to a luxuriant growth of land vegetation, probably
confined largely to the low marshy shores of the shallow Jurassic seas.
The earliest known forms of mammalian life, the few small marsu-
pials which first appeared in the latter part of the Triassic of Europe
and Eastern North America, show an increase in the number of species
in the Jurassic.
These diminutive forms appear in the Rocky Mountains, for the
first time, in the Atlantosaurus beds of Colorado and Wyoming,
associated with the remains of great numbers of gigantic Dinosaurian
reptiles.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 35
CRETACEOUS PERIOD.
The Cretaceous is the most extensively developed of all the geolog-
ical systems in Colorado, and is, economically considered, also the most
important, since it contains our great coal-measures.
The rocks of this age form broad surface exposures, or are found
immediately underlying the soil and drift throughout nearly the entire
plains country east of the mountain border, the noteworthy exceptions
being the eruptive overflows of Las Animas County, — the Monument
Creek Miocene Tertiary, on the Arkansas-Platte divide, — the White
River Tertiary in the northeastern corner of the State, and probably
patches of Pliocene Tertiary along the eastern margin near the Kansas
and Nebraska line. They are also prominently developed in the western
half of the State, but are not to the same extent exposed owing to the
presence of the more recently deposited Lower Tertiary beds occupying
the Uinta and San Juan basins. ii8G^42
The Cretaceous system, as defined in the Rocky Mountains, has
been separated into a number of well-marked terranes, distinguished
from each other by remains of characteristic fossils, and more or less
pronounced lithological features. The second epochs recognized are
designated as Dakota, Fort Benton, Niobrara, Fort Pierre, Fox Hills
and Laramie, — the relative age corresponding to the order given. Orig-
inally they were known as Cretaceous No. i to No. 6 respectively.
The Dakota and Laramie terranes,— that is, the upper and lower, —
were formed in shallow, brackish-water seas, and contain remains of land
plants ; for which reason they are always separated from the interme-
diate members, the latter being altogether of marine origin. On this
ground some geologists are inclined to combine all of the marine beds
into one great group termed the " Colorado," referring all of the Creta-
ceous above to the Laramie, and all that is below to the Dakota. The
majority, however, restrict the name Colorado to the two lower members,
the Fort Benton and Niobrara ; while the upper members, the Fort
Pierre and Fox Hills, are by Hayden and others termed merely Upper
and Lower Fox Hills. Recently the name "Montana" has been sug-
36 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
gested to designate the group including the upper half of the marine
beds, to avoid discarding the old formation name of Fort Pierre, while
still retaining that of Fox Hills, both being comprehended under the
term Montana group, where it is not possible or desirable to separate
them.
A description of all these terranes in detail, would be out of the
question, and to economize space they will be referred to as Dakota,
Marine Cretaceous, and Laramie ; the latter being the most important
economically, will be considered at greater length than the others.
DAKOTA EPOCH.
The Dakota, or lowest of the Cretaceous beds in Colorado, is rep-
resented by a varying thickness of sandstone up to 700 feet, the greatest
development being in the southwestern part of the State, and the least
along the eastern border of the Front Range. Wherever the sedimen-
tary beds are upturned on the flanks of the Rocky Mountains the Dakota
sandstone can usually be found projecting above the softer overlying
and underlying shaly strata, and in Southwestern Colorado its exposures
cover a comparatively large area of country. Along the eastern base of
the Sangre de Cristo, and west of the Spanish Peaks, the upturned
sandstone of this epoch stand up conspicuously above the adjacent
country, forming in western Las Animas County what is called the
"Stone Wall." Near Golden the Dakota contains the important bed of
fire clay, and in Ouray, San Miguel, Dolores, La Plata and Mesa Coun-
ties, it contains limited quantities of workable coal The coking-coal
near Rico, the semi-anthracite near the mouth of Dallas Creek on the
Uncompahgre, and the bituminous coal on the Gunnison near Grand
Junction, belong to this epoch. Much of the sandstone used for
building and paving is of Dakota age.
In a few places, notably at Golden, it affords remains of land plants,
indicating nearness to the shores of a shallow, brackish-water sea. Al-
though the oldest of the Cretaceous series in Colorado it is more recent
than the Trinity and Comanche beds of Te.xas, — beds which are now
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 37
regarded as the oldest Cretaceous of America. It is worthy of remark,
however, that certain pinkish and light-colored massive sandstones,"
underlying the Dakota proper on the Rio Dolores, the Rio Las Ani-
mas, and elsewhere, and reported as Lower Dakota by Hayden, may
be the Rocky Mountain equivalent of the Trinity sandstones.
The Dakota Epoch marks the first appearance of the modern types
of vegetable life in Colorado. The abrupt introduction of a radically
new and dominant flora, differing so widely from that of the Jurassic,
points to a great break in sedimentation, and an elevation of the land
above ocean level for some distance away from the Jurassic shore-line
during the early Cretaceous. While the latter conditions prevailed in
the Rocky Mountains, a great thickness of sediments accumulated in
Texas and along the Atlantic coast ; represented by the Trinity and
Comanche beds of the former, and the Potomac beds of the latter. It
is in the last named that the earliest representatives of the modern types
of plant life in America first appear, — types from which the existing ones
have been, through long ages, gradually developed.
MARINE CRETACEOUS.
Succeeding the Dakota are marine beds consisting of shales, clays,
limestones, and near the top, sandstones, aggregating usually from
3,000 to 3,500 feet, occasionally more. They form extensive exposures
in Southeastern Colorado, and are prominent in the valleys of all the
principal streams west of the continental divide. Along the eastern base
of the Front Range, in Northeastern Colorado, the upper part is known
to contain Fox Hills, Fort Pierre fossils. The same beds cover large
areas in the western part of Kansas and Southern Nebraska, are exten-
sively developed in Northern New Mexico, and to some extent in Eastern
Litah. In a few localities the shales of the Marine Cretaceous outcrop
high up on the mountains, and on the divide south of Mount Wilson
there are typical exposures at an altitude of 1 1,000 feet above sea level
The lower members of the series, or what would be considered as be-
longing to the Colorado group, are well shown in the vicinity of Pueblo,
38 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
and along the valley of the Arkansas River. At Florence near Canon:
City the Montana beds contain the petroleum for which that locality is
noted.
The Marine Cretaceous of Colorado abounds in the remains of the
marine life of the times. Among the most interesting forms were the
coiled and straight-shelled Cephalopods, which appear to have existed in
vast numbers in the Cretaceous seas, and whose remains are common
in many Colorado localities. The order of Cephalopods first appeared
in the Lower Silurian, being then represented by the straight-chambered
Orthoceras, which was followed later in the Palaeozoic by the coiled
Goniatites, Ceratites, Ammonites, Baculites, Scaphites, Heteroceras,
Helicoceras, with other genera, appeared in the Mesozoic, and with the
exception of Ceratites are all abundantly represented in the Cretaceous
beds of the Rocky Mountains and of Colorado. Of the Mesozoic
Cephalopods only one genus, the Nautilus, has survived to the present
time, although the order is still represented by a greatly diminished
number of genera and species. The Cretaceous forms were prob-
ably the progenitors of the Octopus, Cuttlefish and other genera of
existing seas, and their gradual development from the ancient Ortho-
ceras constitutes an interesting and instructive page in the history of
marine life.
Of the vertebrate life of the Marine Cretaceous, so far as concerns
Colorado, little is known. The rich fauna obtained by Marsh, from the
beds of this age in Kansas, no doubt indicates the life common also to
the eastern half of Colorado. In what are designated by Marsh, the
" Pteranodon beds," are found the remains of huge, toothless, flying
lizards, allied to the Pterodactyles. Some species measured twenty-five
feet between the tips of the wings. Other remarkable forms from Kan-
sas are the Odontornithes, or birds with teeth, either arranged in
grooves (Odontolcae), or in sockets (Odontotormae) which were first
discovered, and their peculiar characters investigated by Prof. Marsh.
Associated with these were countless numbers of Mosasauroid reptiles,
highly characteristic of the age in America. They were slender, snake-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 39
like forms, provided with paddles, and some of the species were probably
the longest reptiles that ever existed.
Other kinds of organisms characteristic of the Cretaceous generally
were not wanting in Colorado. The chalk of Europe, which consists
wholly of the remains of Foraminifera, is not represented, litholog-
ically, in the Cretaceous of the Rocky Mountains ; but there are, in
Colorado, beds of calcareous shales, which appear to be mostly made up
of the remains of Foraminifera similar to those of the chalk. These
minute organisms still exist in countless millions, but only under pelagic
conditions, or at great depths in the ocean, where the remains form the
well-known deep-sea ooze. The absence of Foraminifera from shallow
seas points strongly to the deep sea origin of all calcareous rocks con-
taining them ; hence we may conclude that during the Marine Cretaceous,
or rather during a large part of it, the Colorado archipelago was sur-
rounded by deep seas, resulting from the final subsidence of the land
which terminated the shallow water conditions of the Dakota Epoch.
With the close of the Marine Cretaceous ended the long period of
true marine sedimentation in the Rocky Mountains. Previously there
had been two grand revolutions in the geological history of the continent.
First, the Appalachian at the close of the Palaeozoic Era. Second, the
Sierra Nevada revolution at the close of the Triassic. The third, or
continental revolution, may be said to have begun at the close of the
Marine Cretaceous ; though for some time there continued to be oscilla-
tions of the land, which permitted occasional submergence, for brief
periods, by the ocean, and the introduction of marine life. Brackish
water sedimentation then began on an extensive scale, and probably con-
tinued through the greater part of the succeeding or Laramie Epoch ;
the last and most important of the Mesozoic terranes.
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER II.
Introductory remarks — laramie epoch— extent of the coal measures in
COLORADO grand RIVER FIELD VAMPA FIELD LA PLATA FIELD RATON FIELD
— NORTHERN COLORADO FIELD — NORTH PARK FIELD — CANON CITY, SOUTH PARK,
AND TONGUE MESA DISTRICTS ESTIMATION OF THE AREA OF THE SEVERAL COAL
FIELDS ESTIMATION OF THE PROBABLE TONNAGE OF AVAILABLE COAL IN THE
COMBINED COLORADO FIELDS PHYSICAL CONDITIONS ATTENDING THE CLOSE OF
THE LARAMIE EPOCH — LIFE OF THE LARAMIE.
The economic map of Colorado, included in the Geological Atlas
published by the general government, is based on observations made by
the geologists attached to the survey under Prof. Hayden ; and since
their work was merely preliminary it is not to be expected that they
could do justice to our coal fields, which no doubt ought to have been
made the object of a special detailed survey. Indeed, it would have
been more to the interest of the State if the matter of our coal resources
had not been touched upon ; for nothing could be more unsatisfactory,
not to say misleading, than the chapter on lignitic coals contributed by
Marvine to Hayden's Report for 1S73, based as it is on a mere inspec-
tion of the Northern Colorado districts, which produce the most inferior
coals mined in the State. So likewise, with the economic map, in which
large sections of country, worthless for coal, are represented otherwise,
and highly valuable workable areas are entirely overlooked.
The reports which appear from time to time in the United States
Mineral Resources are creditable, and so far as they go, entirely just to
Colorado mines ; but they are necessarily largely statistical, and lengthy
descriptions, involving comprehensive details, would be out of place in
such a work. Yet these reports and those of Hayden, contain the sum
of our literature on this important subject. This being the case, where
42 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
shall one who seeks for exact information regarding our coal resources-
turn for aid ?
Clearly this question can only be answered when the results of aa
organized systematic survey, under State control, shall be given to the
public. It would certainly seem that work of this kind, impressed with
the stamp of official authority, would at this stage of our progress, be of
great benefit to Colorado, and exercise a direct influence on its industrial
development.
The lamentable want of trustworthy information, on the subject of
our coal resources, is the writer's apology for bringing forward the brief
and imperfect description of Colorado coal fields presented in this
chapter.
LARAMIE EPOCH.
The strata of the Laramie were for a long time regarded by palseo-
botanists as Lower Tertiary, for the reason that the flora first studied,
and which was thought to contain many species common to the Eocene
(Lower Tertiary) of Europe, was obtained near the very summit of the
series ; while the beds near Golden, that have afforded a large number
of so-called Laramie species, are now known to be erosionally uncon-
formable with the Laramie proper. The Golden beds extend over a
large area in the Denver basin, and are hence termed the Denver Beds.
The question of their age is still unsettled. The flora is regarded
by Newberry as Upper Laramie, a conclusion supported by the decidedly
Mesozoic aspect of the vertebrate remains in which the Dinosaurs pre-
dominate, though there are a few forms which in their affinities approach,
nearer to Tertiary types. At present, however, so far as regards the
Laramie proper, few will question the propriety of its assignment to the
uppermost Cretaceous, which makes it the closing epoch of the Mesozoic
Era in Western North America.
The terms, "Post-Cretaceous," and, "Lignitic," often applied to the
Laramie series, are now nearly obsolete, the former for the reasons just
stated, and the latter for the reason that it originated in the erroneous,
impression that the coals were merely lignites ; whereas, it is now well
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 43-
known that all the varieties of bituminous coal common to the Carbon-
iferous are common to the Laramie also. What the Carboniferous is to
the Appalachian region and to Europe, the Laramie is to the Rocky
Mountains, it being, pre-eminently, the coal-bearing formation through-
out the West.
The deep sea conditions of the Marine Cretaceous ceased with the
beginning of the Laramie, when sedimentation took place in shallow,
brackish-water seas, or alternated with periods during which extensive
swamps, covered with an exuberant growth of semi-tropical vegetation,
served for the accumulation of vast peat-like deposits, which were after-
ward submerged and covered with sediments.
This alternation of conditions, due to the irregularity of the sub-
siding movement, continued throughout the Laramie, or up to the
time of the continental revolution, which closed the Mesozoic and
permanently elevated the western half of the continent above the
ocean level.
The rocks of the Colorado Laramie have everywhere nearly the same
lithological characters. There is usually at the base, — and directly over-
lying the Marine Cretaceous — a stratum of sandstone, from lOO to 200
feet thick, massive in the upper half, and often containing fucoidal
remains (sea-weeds) in the lower half. Above this basal band of sand-
stone, which is much used for building purposes, are others, separated
from each other by shale-beds of varying thickness. These alternating
shale-beds gradually decrease in thickness until, finally, at a distance of
from 1,000 to 2,000 feet above the base, sandstones largely predominate.
The workable coal-seams are confined to the lower portion of the form-
ation, or to the lower 1,500 feet. In Northeastern Colorado there is
also a series of shales and sandstones which has been referred to the Upper
Laramie, and which contains coal, — seams of workable thickness, but too
inferior in quality to furnish a marketable product. The Lower
Laramie ranges in thickness from 3,000 to 5,000 feet; the Upper Lar-
amie about half as much more, although the line of separation between
the two formations is, to a great extent, arbitrary.
44 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
EXTENT OF THE LARAMIE COAL MEASURES.
The amount of exact information available, regarding the extent
and development of the Laramie, is very insufficient, and rather a matter
of surprise considering its importance as a coal-bearing formation, to
Colorado and the prairie States. Of the area of available measures still
less is known, so that the tabulated estimates given beyond are approxi-
mative only, and liable to considerable modification whenever systematic
surveys shall have demonstrated the full extent of what is doubtless
destined to become the most valuable and lasting of our mineral
resources.
While the workable measures throughout the State, excepting a
few isolated areas in the Dakota, are probably of contemporaneous
origin, they are not continuous, but are divided by areas of denudation,
and by the main range of the Rockies, into six distinct fields; viz., the
Grand River field, — the Yampa field, — the La Plata field, — the Raton
field, — the North Park field, and the Northern Colorado field ; besides
three small but important districts, hereafter mentioned, and a limited
area in the Dakota Cretaceous of Southwestern Colorado, which is like-
wise included in the estimates.
GRAND RIVER FIELD.
This field is so named for the reason that the most valuable, as well
as the most accessible, part of the measures is situated on the drainage
of Grand River, and its tributaries in Gunnison, Pitkin, Garfield and
Mesa Counties ; although a large, but less accessible, part of the field
lies on the drainage of White and Yampa Rivers.
Beginning at the southern extremity of the field near Crested Butte,
where valuable beds of anthracite and coking coal are worked, the out-
cropping measures can be traced with but little interruption, around
Mount Carbon, to the mines of domestic coal at Baldwin, and thence
westward to Mount Gunnison, where, on Coal Creek, large seams of
semi-coking coal are exposed. From Mount Gunnison the outcrop con-
tinues westward across the North Fork of the Gunnison River and
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 45
around Grand Mesa to Hogback Canon on Grand River, about sixteen
miles above Grand Junction. From Hogback Canon to the Utah line
the outcrop conforms to the trend of the Little Book Cliffs, along which
the measures are traceable to Greeh River ; and extending beyond, prob-
ably underlie a large part of the country east of the Wahsatch Range.
Along the opposite margin of the field the outcropping coal-seams
are also readily traceable. Sweeping westerly from Crested Butte they
skirt the western slope of the Anthracite Range, the southern base of
the Ragged Mountains, and appearing for a short distance on Crystal
River, again trend westward into Coal Basin. From Coal Basin north-
westerly, the measures outcrop along the Huntsman's Hills, through
Jerome Park, and on to Pifion Basin and Newcastle. At this point the
Laramie exposures following the course of the Great Hogback, cross to
the north of Grand River, and pursuing a northwesterly — and then a
northerly — course, continue uninterruptedly to White River, where the
coal-seams are well exposed a few miles below Meeker. From there the
outcrop trends, in a great elliptical curve, northward in the direction of
the Yampa, and continuing the curve, again appears on White River a
few miles below the mouth of the Pi-ce-ance. Thence it follows the
course of the Uinta fold across the State line into Utah, and on to Green
River. This is substantially the outline of what is the largest and most
important of known Rocky Mountain coal fields, or rather the boundaries
of the Colorado portion of it. Regarding the Utah extension of this field
little is known beyond the existence of workable coal at a number of
points between Green River and the Wahsatch Mountains ; indicating
the probable continuance of large areas of accessible measures as far
west as that range.
The coals of the Grand River field show a wide variation in char-
acter and composition, although throughout they are found to be of very
superior quality. The Anthracite Range and Ragged Mountain coal, as
also part of what is contained in the limited area on Crystal River, and
on Slate River near Crested Butte, is anthracite and semi-anthracite of
excellent quality, but variable in thickness and contained in beds much
46 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
broken and fractured, so that but a small part of the total anthracite
acreage can be profitably worked in the regular way. So far as known,
the total area of available anthracite and semi-anthracite, will not exceed
3,000 acres, unless further exploration in the Elk Head Mountains and
Grand Mesa, should develop a larger area than these localities now show.
In Coal Basin and northward along the eastern border of the Huntsman's
Hills, also in Jerome Park, the coal is an excellent coking variety, and the
seams that are of workable size and accessible, aggregate as much as
thirty feet of clean coal. From the southern extremity of Coal Basin to
the northern end of Jerome Park, a distance of nearly twenty miles, the
seams furnish only coking-coal. To what distance back of the outcrop
the coal will continue to be of this character can hardly be conjectured ;
nor is it yet clear to what cause the alteration of the coal in this district
is directly attributable beyond the probability that it was induced by the
intrusion of the dykes, and large masses of eruptive rock, which occur in
that neighborhood. For economic purposes it is unnecessary to specu-
late on the distance to which the coking-coal extends beyond the working
limit, and there can hardly exist a doubt of its retaining its character to
that extent.
In Coal Basin the seams have an inclination of from 9° to 15°, and
can be mined, in places, a long distance back of the outcrop. North
from Coal Basin the seams soon become highly inclined, having a dip of
about 40° in Jerome Park, so that there the limit of profitable working
will be sooner reached than in Coal Basin. Altogether, the total area of
available coking-coal in this district may reach thirty-five square miles.
In the Crested Butte district the area of coking-coal is quite small, the
seams graduating into dry domestic coal on one side and into semi-
anthracite on the other.
From Jerome Park, along the Great Hogback, to the head of the
Pi-ce-ance, there is a noticeable increase in the inclination of the meas-
ures. At South Canon, Pinon Basin, Newcastle, and Dry Gap, the dip
is about 57°, while at Rifle Creek Gap it is not less than 80°. From
there the dip gradually diminishes until it is about 30° at the upper
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 47
■exposures on White River. The inclination of overlying conformable
strata, everywhere indicates that the dip of the coal measures decreases
rapidly after leaving the outcrop, a fact which explains the absence of
high inclination in Coal Basin where the beds have been eroded to a
distance of several miles back of the general line of the exposures.
The character of the coal along the Hogback varies considerably in
the different seams, though it all belongs to the class known to the trade
as "domestic," being similar to the European varieties, "splint," and
" cherry," the best adapted of all soft coals for domestic uses. As a
rule, the upper measures furnish the cleanest and dryest coal, while the
lower, owing to greater thickness, are capable of producing the largest
quantity. The dry coals of the Canon City and Pifion Basin type, which
coke but slightly or not at all, are usually less sooty than semi-coking
coals, and these in turn than coking-coals, which form too much soot to
use as a domestic fuel. Hence the importance of the Garfield County
product, which is well suited to meet the requirements of the growing
demand from the prairie States.
The total thickness of available coal along the Great Hogback
exceeds what has been observed elsewhere in the Colorado fields, the
measurements made at a number of points indicating about fifty feet as
the average aggregate thickness, for while in places it is greater, the
added amount will usually include more or less impure and unmar-
ketable material.
North and west from Meeker, in fact, so far as regards all the
•countr)' north of White River, the measures are generally but slightly
inclined, or of medium inclination, becoming highly inclined near the
Utah line, under the influence of the Uinta fold. The coal possesses the
same characters observed in the seams of Garfield County, being exclu-
sively of the domestic kind. This part of the field has been but little
explored and in no place has the entire series of seams been opened up ;
consequently, in assigning an average workable thickness of coal, the
true thickness cannot be given. It may be assumed, however, that the
minimum thickness of tweh'e feet, the least anywhere observed where
48 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
openings have been made, will not exceed the true amount, and it is
highly probable that future explorations will prove the latter to be much
greater.
The slightly inclined or nearly horizontal measures of the south-
western margin of the field includes the entire outcrop between Mount
Gunnison and a point about five miles west of Hogback Canon en
Grand River, with the addition of limited areas near Baldwin and
Crested Butte. Along the Little Book Cliffs, north of Grand Junction,
the inclination reaches, in places, i8°, which is the maximum dip
observed in that part of the field. With the exception of the limited
area in the Crested Butte district, which contains coking-coal and anthra-
cite, and possibly a small section of country near Mount Gunnison, the
whole of the coal of the southwestern border is of the semi-coking kind,
and of good quality for domestic requirements.
The thickness of available coal, assigned to this portion of the
measures, is partly based on measurements, and partly assumed. On the
North Fork of the Gunnison the aggregate thickness of workable beds
is known to be as much as fifty feet ; but around the western extremity
of Grand Mesa only an aggregate of fifteen feet has been discovered.
Taking into account the possible existence of unworkable areas around
the comparatively unexplored Grand Mesa outcrop, which is to some
extent troubled by a great eruptive overflow, an aggregate available
thickness of twenty feet is thought to be a conservative estimate. With
the central part of the field we need not concern ourselves, since it is
buried under from 5,000 to 10,000 feet of later sedimentary accumu-
lations, and is therefore practically inaccessible.
YAM PA FIELD.
This field contains a total area of about 950 square miles, and is
situated altogether on the drainage of the Yampa River. Though
separated from the Grand River field by an area of erosion, it was
probably at one time continuous with it, and also with the Southern
Wyoming field, with which it may still be connected beneath the
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 49
eruptive overflow of the Elk Head Mountains. Including a fractional
part of the Wyoming field, which extends southward into Colorado, the
total area will approximate i,ioo square miles.
At present writing not a single productive mine has been o^Dened in
this field, and beyond the few shallow openings from which farmers and
blacksmiths are supplied with fuel, the explorations are superficial and
unimportant. Natural exposures showing a workable thickness of coal
are quite common around the margin of the measures, and also in
localities where they have been deeply eroded by water-courses. On the
north side of the Flat-Top Mountains there are four workable seams
exposed in a vertical distance of less than loo feet. In the region of
the Elk Head Mountains the coal has, in a few places, been altered to
anthracite, and semi-anthracite, by the intrusion of thick sheets of
eruptive rock into the adjacent strata during a former period of eruptive
activity. On the head of the Dry Branch of Elk Head Creek the out-
crop of a seam of anthracite, from seven to eight feet thick, has been
drifted into at several points in a distance of about 1,500 feet, showing a
very good article of fuel ; to which, however, little value can be attached,
until the existence of a large available area has been demonstrated,
owing to the uncertainty of anthracite occurrences depending on the
proximity of lava intrusions, and the necessity of a certain assured
quaatity to justify railway extension to so remote a point. Other, but
smaller, seams of anthracite are exposed, about fifteen miles distant, on
Elk Head Creek, but are of doubtful economic importance, as the coal
soon changes into a bituminous variety.
The soft coal of this field is essentially of the same character and
composition as that of the Grand River field, being a slightly-coking
domestic coal of excellent quality.
The average thickness of available coal assigned to this field is
thought to be justified by the known thickness exposed at various points
around the outcrop. It should be noted, however, that a very careful
survey will be required to determine, even approximately, the total
quantity of available coal, principally owing, to the presence of numerous
4 II.
50 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
flexures, and consequent irregularities of dip, which bring to the
surface and make available, considerable areas in the central part of
the field.
LA PLATA FIELD.
The La Plata field has been but little explored, being remotely
situated with reference to trunk lines of railway, either present or pros-
pective. As defined on the accompanying map it includes all the known
Laramie exposures lying north of the New Mexico line, and is really the
Colorado portion of a larger field extending beyond the State boundary
southward. The area of the La Plata field in Colorado is estimated at
J, 2 50 square miles.
The greater part of the outcropping measures are but slightly
inclined, especially in the Rio Mancos and Rio San Juan regions. On
the Rio La Plata the inclination of the beds is generally less than 10°.
East of the Rio Las Animas the dip increases, and on the Rio
Florida the measures are highly inclined. Openings, exposing a work-
able thickness of coal, have been made on the Florida, Animas, La Plata,
on Cherry Creek, and at a number of points in the vicinity of the Man-
cos ; while natural exposures of thick coal are frequently met with, and
are quite noticeable on the San Juan.
The general character of La Plata coal remains to be investigated.
The sample tested by the War Department — by a method which is open
to serious objections, since all fuels are subjected to the same treatment
without regard to character or composition — indicated the evaporating
power to be near that of Trinidad coal, which is considered by the trade
to be above the average as a steam fuel. In all probability the most of
the coal from this field will be of the semi-coking kind, owing to distance
from centers of eruption, the exception being that which occurs in the
neighborhood of the La Plata Mountains, and which at Durango is a
true coking coal. It may be stated here that the result of observation
on Rocky Mountain coals proves, beyond question, that the several
varieties owe their origin to different degrees of alteration, produced in
common lignite by the direct, or indirect, influence of neighboring
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 51
eruptive masses, and that the amount of alteration is greater the nearer
the measures are situated to eruptive centers.
Until the La Plata field shall be more thoroughly explored, it will
be impossible to estimate the thickness of available coal with any degree
of certainty. The so-called " Mammoth " vein at Durango, which is of
extraordinar)' thickness, is really an aggregation of small seams sepa-
rated from one another by bands of shale, on the whole capable of pro-
ducing large quantities of coal. Other seams of workable size, but
higher in the measures, have also been exposed in the vicinity. So far
as known, the Mammoth coal beds, except in a contracted form, are not
continuous through the entire field, but are confined to the region about
Durango ; hence, the total thickness available in that district, is phe-
nomenal, and ought not to figure in an estimate of the total available
coal. At the best, any estimate that can be given will be little more
than a guess, and such it must be candidly admitted is the nature of
the one presented beyond, which is therefore merely intended as a
substitute for the more accurate figures which future surveys may be
expected to furnish.
RATON FIELD.
The Colorado portion of the Raton field has been more thoroughly
explored than any other coal-containing area of corresponding size in
the State, consequently the statements here presented are thought to
approach very closely the actual facts.
In calculating the total area of available and unavailable measures
in this field, all that portion lying north of the Cuchara River, and west
of the meridian of La Veta, has been rejected as not coal-bearing to a
workable extent. So also the extensive area of Laramie beds lying east
of the 104th meridian, which are represented by Hayden as coal bearing,
but which up to the present time have not been shown to contain seams
of workable thickness. The propriety of including such large areas of
barren measures in the coal land of the State is open to question. No
useful purpose is served thereby. As well might we include the whole
of the Dakota Cretaceous, because it contains workable coal in South-
52 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
western Colorado. Wherever a workable thickness of coal can with
reason be supposed to exist, that portion of the measures should cer-
tainly be included as coal land, no matter what limit we may, for the
time being, assign to the available coal ; for we know not but the
requirements of coming ages, aided by vastly improved methods of
mining, may indefinitely extend this limit. Excluding, also, about thirty
square miles for the eruptive areas of the Spanish Peaks and Raton
Mountains, the entire field in Colorado will embrace a total of 1,300
square miles. East of Gray's Creek the margin of the measures has
not been carefully outlined, so that the above figures may be in error to
the extent of a few square miles ; a contingency that will not materially
affect the available tonnage, since the coal in that part of the field is
thin, and the calculations are affected more by length of accessible out-
crop, irrespective of smaller meanderings, than by width of area.
Throughout the remainder of the field the margin has been located, with
a fair approach to accuracy, by reference to established section corners,
— a work for which the State is indebted to the enterprise of the Colo-
rado Fuel Company.
The least important part of the measures outcrop just east of the
base of the Sangre de Cristo Range, and extend from the northern line
of New Mexico, west of the Spanish Peaks, to a point a short distance
south of Veta Mountain, beyond which the seams cease to afford a
workable thickness of coal, or at least such has yet to be found.
Along the northern extent of this outcrop the inclination ranges
from 40° to 80", and at present coal is only mined for local con-
sumption on Middle and Indian Creeks. West of the Spanish Peaks,
for a distance of nine miles, intrusive sheets of lava have transformed
the coal into natural coke, too poor in quality and irregular to be of any
economic value. About a mile north of Coal Creek the eruptive
intrusions terminate, and from there southward the seams are of work-
able size, but inclined, in places, as much as 25°, — a dip less desir-
able in mine workings than one much greater. A large number of
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 53
superficial openings demonstrate fairly well the continuity of the coal
and its semi-coking or domestic character.
Along the eastern margin of the field, which is now the scene of
extensive mining operations, we find the workable coal thinning out a
few miles south of Badito. In the next township east the coal has
a persistent thickness of about five feet and an inclination of 14°.
The inclination diminishes rapidly going southward, rarely exceeding 7°
along the next fifteen miles of continuous and well defined outcrop,
which extends through Townships 28 and 29, in Range 66.
This part of the measures includes the important mines of Rouse,
Walsenburg and Pictou. At the two last mentioned localities there are
three productive coal beds, aggregating about fifteen feet in thickness,
known respectively as the Cameron, Walsen and Robinson seams. Of
these the Cameron seam, the lowest in the measures, affords the best
quality of coal. This seam, which is only thirty-nine inches thick at
Walsenburg, expands to six feet at Rouse, where it is the only coal
mined, and in fact the only workable seam, the others being transformed
into coke by lava intrusions. At Santa Clara, and beyond nearly to
Canon Salada, it is still of workable size, aggregating, with the Walsen
seam, thirty-five feet above, about ten feet of coal.
Between Canon Salada and the Apishapa the outcrop has been
scorched by intrusions of lava, and probably not to exceed an average of
three and one-half feet of coal will be extracted from it. In the
Apishapa Valley there are two seams exposed, aggregating about eleven
feet of coal.
All the coal in the above districts is of the slightly-coking domestic
kind, varying in quality with the different seams, the lower or Rouse-
Cameron seam affording the best coal for domestic purposes, mined in
this field. The Apishapa Valley coal cokes more strongly than the
Rouse and Walsenburg coal, and will be found more sooty, but it is
nevertheless a good quality of coal.
In the district south of the Apishapa, embracing the Canon de
Agua, Stock Canon and Road Canon mines, there is an upper as well as
54 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
a lower series of workable seams. The former contains the best quality
of coal, of about six and one-half feet in thickness, while the latter series
aggregates about twelve feet. South of the Apishapa the coking char-
acter of the coal becomes more pronounced, improving its value some-
what for steam purposes, but rendering the product less desirable as a
domestic fuel. Such is the character of the most of the coal from the
district just mentioned. There is also considerable true coking-coal of
fair quality, but drier if anything, than Engleville or Sopris coal. Be-
tween Road Canon and the Purgatoire River, — a district which includes
the Chicosa, or Tingly Canon mines, — the measures usually afford a
workable thickness of coal, strongly-coking in character, but yet too dry-
to make beehive coke.
Where the outcrop crosses the Apishapa the inclination is about
17°, but decreases rapidly westward or away from the outcrop. In
the districts south of the Apishapa the inclination in no place
exceeds 7°.
In the Trinidad district there are usually two workable seams
present, occasionally three, belonging to the lower series ; and always
one and often two belonging to the upper Cafion de Agua series, out-
cropping from 800 to 1,000 feet higher in the measures. None of these
seams maintain a continuous workable thickness over large areas, but as
there are quite a number in the section, at least twenty-seven being
known, one or more in a given locality will be found of workable size,
though not corresponding to the thick coal developed in the adjoining
ground. The present workings clearly indicate the variability in thick-
ness. At Engleville the coal is won from the lowest bed in the measures,
while at the Starkville, Sopris and Valley mines, it is some one of the
higher seams of the lower series that has the greatest productive capacity.
Up to the present time nearly all the coal e.xtracted from the mines of
this district has been taken from seams ranging from six to nine feet in
thickness, usually about five and one-half to seven feet of this amount
being available. Trinidad coal produces a hard, extremely dense coke,
and is much used as fuel for locomotives.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 55
Adjoining the Trinidad district on the west, is the Purgatoire River
district, in which the lower series of seams does not outcrop. This
district may be defined as a strip about twenty miles long, of varying
width, extending up the valley of the Purgatoire and including several of
its lateral branches. Here, the nearly horizontal measures have been
deeply eroded, so that both from the valley itself and the principal side
canons the lower series of seams can be easily reached through shafts,
while the upper series can be mined directly from the outcrop. By this
means a large area of land, probably as much as 135 square miles, will
eventually be made available.
The varieties of coal contained in the Raton field, although probably
of contemporaneous origin with the lignite-coals of Northern Colorado,
show a much higher degree of alteration, evidently due to the influence
of numerous dykes and intrusions, which are everywhere met with, the
greatest alteration being noted at Trinidad, where the great overflow of
the Chicorica Mesa seems to have played an important part in the
process.
NORTHERN COLORADO FIELD.
This field, as here defined, is a strip forty miles wide, extending
from the Wyoming line southward to Franceville, and having a total area
of about 6,800 square miles. It does not include the entire extent of Lar-
amie rocks, nor yet more than a portion of the immense tract in North-
eastern Colorado represented as coal land on Hayden's economic map.
Here we again meet with the necessity of establishing a line between
what may reasonably be considered coal land and adjacent areas of barren
or utterly worthless measures ; and since the change from one class to
the other is not abrupt but gradual, and takes place at inaccessible
depths, there is room for considerable difference of opinion as to where
this line should be drawn. The limit here suggested, of a line forty
miles east of the western outcrop, and having the same general contour,
will, it is thought, approximately define the extent of the coal basin in
Northern Colorado ; for while it is known that workable seams are
nowhere exposed along the eastern border of the Laramie, thin beds
56 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
which may eventually be worked for local consumption, are exposed at
both the northern and southern extremities of the field at a distance of
about forty miles from the western margin.
All of the accessible outcrop north of Boulder is but slightly
inclined, as also most of that in the vicinity of Erie, Louisville, and Lang-
ford. In the neighborhood of Franceville and Colorado Springs the
inclination is from 7° to 10° with a tendency to flatten out away from the
great fold of the Front Range. The remainder of the outcrop, or that
lying contiguous to the mountains, is upturned from 40° to 80°.
In what may be termed the Franceville district, the workable coal
ranges from six to ten feet in thickness. Along the highly inclined out-
crop, and in the Boulder County districts the aggregate thickness is
greater ; but in the more northern part of the field the beds thin out,
being only three to four feet thick at Plattville and Eaton.
All the coal from the Northern Colorado field is intermediate in char-
acter between lignite and cherry-coal, in composition approaching the
former ; in structure and appearance, the latter. The principal ob-
jection that can be urged against it is its capacity for absorbing moisture,
which varies from twelve per cent, in that from the Boulder County dis-
tricts, to over twenty per cent, in the more inferior qualities from other
districts. Such hygroscopic coals invariably disintegrate on exposure for
a short time to the atmosphere, for which reason they are poorly adapted
for either storage or exportation. At the same time they find a ready sale
in the nearest markets on account of their cheapness.
The amount of available coal which this field may contain, is not
easy to estimate. Notwithstanding the thinning out of the beds in the
northern half, their accessibility, even in places far to the east of the out-
crop, coupled with the requirements of the treeless region in which some
areas are situated, may eventually render profitable the working of quite
thin seams. What the limit will prove to be can hardly be conjectured,
and for the present must be taken at the thickness that can be mined
under existing conditions.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 57
The districts lying in Boulder County contain a number of small
tracts, of slightly inclined measures, separated from one another by
faults or abrupt flexures, whose origin is to be referred to the dynamic
movement accompanying the final elevation of the Front Range, and a
certain amount of eruptive activity indicated by the Valmont dyke.
This part of the measures affords the best quality of coal in the Northern
Colorado field ; hence, notwithstanding the disturbance to which much
of the ground has been subjected, it will no doubt be thoroughly
exhausted before abandonment.
The upturned measures probably contain the greatest aggregate
thickness of coal so far as one can judge from the limited amount of
exploration, yet for several reasons they can hardly be considered
economically accessible below a depth of half a mile. The extreme
southern part of the field possesses on the whole the most merit, except
in the quality of the product. The coal is of fair workable thickness,
while the slight inclination of the beds renders it possible to mine it eco-
nomically for several miles back of the marginal outcrop. There is also
a noticeable absence of abrupt folds, faults, and displacements, such as are
common in the Boulder County districts, and which are a serious
obstacle to extended continuous operations.
While the Northern Colorado field contains a vast quantity of
available coal, and has the advantage over all our fields of nearness to
markets, the inferiority of the product places it below both the Grand
River and Raton fields in importance to the State, — a fact which will
become more and more evident as the country develops.
NORTH PARK FIELD.
This field, like the Yampa field, has been but little explored, and up
to the present time no systematic work on the seams has been attempted.
The measures extend from the northeastern border of the North Park
basin, — where there are exposures of coal between the Canadian and
Michigan Rivers, — as far south as Grand River in Middle Park, where
very thin streaks of coal are met with around Hot Sulphur Springs.
58 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
The measures of economic value are, however, restricted to the
North Park basin and the region on the head of Muddy Creek around
Mount Wheatly. The most accessible part of the field, and that which
contains by far the greatest aggregate thickness of coal, is the northern
extremity. Between the Canadian and Michigan the measures are
brought to the surface by an anticlinal flexure, from the apex of which
they dip in opposite directions about 15°. To the northeast of this
flexure there is a synclinal depression, about three miles broad, termin-
ating in the marginal outcrop, where the beds again come to the surface.
For a distance of about twelve miles along this outcrop seams of lignite-
coal are exposed naturally or by excavations. There are apparently
three workable beds in this part of the field, — the Red Hill seam, from
twenty-one to thirty-two feet thick, the Coal Hill seam, fifteen feet thick,
and the Walden seam, four to five feet thick ; all of which are remark-
ably free from shale and other impurities.
The composition of North Park coal is decidedly lignitic, the moist-
ure retained ranging from twelve per cent, to eighteen per cent, in which
respect it corresponds to the coals of the Northern Colorado field,
although when first extracted it is black and lustrous like ordinary soft
coal, hence the term, "lignite-coal" to distinguish it from true lignite,
which is not known in Colorado. The estimate of available coal in this
field, given beyond, is not based on a thorough exploration of it : conse-
quently, the figures are merely suggested as probably within reasonable
limits.
OTHER DISTRICTS.
The areas of coal land remaining to be noted embrace those isolated
districts which cannot be included in any of the great fields ; at the same
time they are severally too limited in extent to be treated as so many
independent fields. These are the South Park, Canon City, and
Tongue Mesa, districts. They are estimated to contain collectively
fifty square miles of available measures.
The South Park district includes the mines which, for a number of
years, have been systematically worked near Como. The principal seam
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 59
is from five to six feet thick, and produces a strongly coking-coal of fair
quality ; probably the best mined in Northeastern Colorado. The
measures have been considerably disturbed in the vicinity of the mines,
but the district may develop better ground when its capabilities shall
have been further investigated.
The Canon City district is the best known of the three, having for
years produced a very superior variety of domestic fuel, which finds a
ready sale in the market, and has served to establish the importance of
the vast reserves of this kind of coal so abundant in the measures of
Western Colorado, and in the northern part of the Raton field. Most
of the Canon City coal is taken from a seam about five feet thick,
having usually a varying thickness of shale toward the center, and is
mined from a number of openings on Coal Creek and Oak Creek, about
four miles southward from Florence. Along the western border of the
district the beds are upturned at a high angle, but flatten rapidly toward
the eastward, and over the greater part of the area the measures are but
slightly inclined, so that nearly the whole will in time be made available.
Tongue Mesa district includes a long, narrow strip of land, elevated
and capped with lava, lying between the Cimarron and Uncompahgre
Rivers. There are four workable seams ranging from five to twenty
feet in thickness, reported as outcropping on the south side of the Mesa.
A small amount of coal has been mined for local consumption ; but the
location is too remote, and the quality of the product, so far as known,
too inferior to make it desirable as an export fuel. Like the bulk of
Western Colorado coal, it is semi-coking, but will not form coke.
The following statement exhibits, in a condensed form, the area and
available capacity of the Colorado coal fields, based on the most reliable
data obtainable. In making these estimates the economic limit of one-
half mile from the general line of outcrop is assumed for highly inclined
measures; for measures dipping from io° to 20' at from one to two
miles, according to the amount of inclination away from the outcrop,
and the thickness and quality of the coal. For horizontal or slightly
inclined measures, four miles is assumed to be the working limit for
60 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
thick coal, and three miles for beds from three to four feet thick only.
An exception may be noted in the case of the upturned measures of the
Great Hogback, where the enormous thickness of superior coal, the
depths of the gorges, or points of attack, below the mean level of the
outcrop, and general accessibility, makes it reasonable to assume that
the seams will be worked to an average distance of one mile. In the
Raton field, which has been carefully meandered, the small areas in
advanced position, relative to the points of attack, have been calculated
and added to the total. Owing to want of accurate data it was impos-
sible to do this in the case of any other field. The least workable thick-
ness is assumed to be three feet, for although smaller seams are worked
even now under very favorable conditions, they cannot be followed with
profit beyond a short distance.
The above limits may appear to many engineers much too circum-
scribed, even when measured by European standards of the present day
without taking into account the more advanced engineering methods of
the future. But we cannot anticipate the possibilities of the latter ;
neither would it be reasonable to apply the former under the conditions
existing in this country. Moreover, on the same ground, we might
object to the estimates made on other coal fields. On the whole the
figures here given are thought to possess a comparative value, though
there can be no doubt that they will be considerably modified by the
results of future surveys.
ESTIMATED AREA OF COLORADO COAL FIELDS.
SQUARE MILES.
Grand River Field (Colorado portion) 6,950
Yampa Field, including part of Wyoming Field in Routt County 1,100
La Plata Field (Colorado portion) 1,250
Raton Field (Colorado portion) 1,300
Northern Colorado Field , 6,800
North Park Field 300
South Park, Canon City, and Tongue Mesa Districts 100
Dakota Measures (Southwestern Colorado) 300
Total 18,100
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 61
ESTIMATED QUANTITY OF AVAILABLE COAL IN COLORADO FIELDS.
ACCESSIBLE AREA AVAILABLE
LOCATION. IN SQUARE MILES. GROSS TONNAGE.
Grand River Field (in Colorado) i,ii6 26,384,800,000
Yampa Field 440 5,961.500,000
La Plata Field (in Colorado) 300 3,387,200,000
Raton Field (in Colorado) 473 4,490,200,000
Northern Colorado Field , 405 2,568,600,000
North Park Field So 1,806,500,000
Caiion City, South Park, and Tongue Mesa Districts 49 429,000,000
Dakota Cretaceous Measures 50 169,300,000
Total 2,913 45,197,100,000
Total net tonnage, or 75 per cent, of gross estimate 33,897,800,000
It will be interesting to compare the above figures with the estimate
of Dr. H. M. Chance, on the available bituminous coal of Pennsylvania.
The total area of coal land is calculated at something less than 9,500
square miles, which includes 470+ square miles in the anthracite fields.
No reliable estimate has yet been made of the amount of available
anthracite.
The net available bituminous coal is placed at 22,908,000,000 long
tons, — equal to 25,657,000,000 short tons, — the limiting thickness being
three feet, and the maximum distance from the outcrop two miles where
the beds are not less than four feet thick. The distance limit, it will be
seen, corresponds to the maximum assumed for beds, inclined from
10° to 20° in Colorado, where, in most of the accessible measures, the
tendency is to flatten out away from the outcrop. In Pennsylvania the
working limit is largely determined by the depth below water level ; but
in the dry Colorado climate, with extensive areas of slightly inclined
measures elevated above the surrounding country, and to some extent
drained of surface water, the working limit will in most cases be
determined rather by the cost of mine haulage ; consequently, where
coal has been assumed as accessible, at a distance of four miles from the
outcrop, it is obvious that, under the circumstances, it will be made
available before the fields are exhausted.
The available bituminous coal of Alabama has been estimated by
Mr. Henry McCalley at 108,394,000,000 tons in the seams over eighteen
«2 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
inches thick. Evidently there is a vast amount of coal in Alabama, but
the assumed limited thickness is so small that no fair comparison can be
made between Mr. McCalley's estimates and those given for Colorado and
Pennsylvania. The States u^hich rank Colorado in area of coal land are,
according to Ashburner : Illinois, with 36,800 square miles, and Missouri
with 26,887 square miles; while Iowa, Kansas and West Virginia are
not far behind, having 18,000, 17,000 and 16,000 square miles respect-
ively. In all these States, except West Virginia, the coals are of inferior
quality when compared with our own.
With the composition of Colorado coals, and the causes operating
to produce the several varieties, we shall not now attempt to deal ; such
subjects can only be discussed intelligently from a purely scientific stand-
point. The foregoing brief review of our coal fields, is merely intended
to give the reader a general idea of the magnitude of our resources in
that direction.
Conclusions naturally suggest themselves. The vast reserves of fuel
will play a more important part in the future prosperity of the State than
all our metalliferous deposits combined ; for the supply is practically
inexhaustible, and the market a large and growing one.
The physical conditions attending the close of the Marine Creta-
ceous and the opening of the Laramie, foreshadowed the great conti-
nental revolution, which permanently elevated the Rocky Mountain
region and adjacent plains country above the ocean level.
During the early part of the Laramie, especially west of the conti-
nental divide, we find marine conditions to have alternated with brackish-
water conditions. There were times when extensive swamps and marshes
stretched away, probably a hundred miles, from the permanent shore-
lines. There were also intermediate periods when the conditions were
favorable to the existence of a purely marine fauna, and so we find beds
containing coal, and the remains of land vegetation, interstratified with
others containing marine shells ; indicating that the land was subject to
oscillations of level, and occasional incursions of the ocean. In the
Jiigher horizons of the Laramie, evidence of these alternating conditions
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 63
no longer exists, and the organic remains are of typical land, or brackish-
water forms.
Several hundred species of fossil plants, indicating the luxuriant
vegetation of this epoch, have been collected in Colorado localities,
notably in the Raton Mountains, at Rouse, in the Boulder County
districts, at Golden, in the vicinity of Crested Butte, and on Crystal
River. The Denver beds, overlying the coal-measures, are rich in
species, referred by Newberry to the upper part of this epoch.
Most of the Laramie genera have their representatives on this con-
tinent at the present day; but certain types like the Fig, Magnolia,
Cinnamon, Fan-Palm, etc., common in Laramie beds, indicate a warmer
climate than now exists ; a difference that may be attributed to the low-
ering of temperature consequent on the elevation of the land.
The vertebrate life of the epoch included chiefly reptiles. The
Dinosaurs, regarded as characteristic of the Mesozoic, are still dominant,
but in diminishing numbers and highly specialized forms. A genus of
huge horned Dinosaur, the Ceratops, existed all along the Rocky
Mountains, several individuals having been found in the Denver beds
which for this reason are regarded by Marsh as probably of Laramie
age, although this question has not yet been definitely settled.
Mammalian life appears to have been mainly restricted to small
marsupials, of which quite a number of species have recently been
described by Marsh, from what are considered to be Laramie beds of
Wyoming. This is the first discovery of abundant mammalian remains
in Cretaceous strata, although similar types were already known from
the Jurassic of Colorado.
In their affinities nearly all these Laramie forms were allied to their
earlier representatives, and in nowise foreshadowed the highly organized
true mammals, which suddenly appeared in vast numbers at the beginning
of the Tertiary.
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER III.
CeNOZOIC era — THE TERTIARY PERIOD GREAT FRESH- WATER LAKES OF THE TER-
TIARY EOCENE EPOCH, STAGES AND LIFE DISTURKANCES AT THE CLOSE OF THE
EOCENE OLIGOCENE OF THE FLORISSANT BASIN MIOCENE EPOCH, STAGES AND
LIFE END OF THE CONTINENTAL REVOLUTION — PLIOCENE EPOCH AND LIFE
TOTAL ELEVATION OF THE LAND QUATERNARY PERIOD — THE EPOCHS REPRE-
SENTED IN COLORADO LIFE OF THE QUATERNARY POSSIBLE EXISTENCE OF MAN
IN COLORADO DURING THIS PERIOD — EVOLUTION OF LIFE THROUGH THE CENO-
ZOIC ERA — ERUPTIVE ROCKS AND PAST IGNEOUS ACTIVITY— ORE-DEPOSITS OF
COLORADO — CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE FORMATION OF ORE-BODIES — THEORET-
ICAL CONSIDERATIONS — GEOLOGY OF SOME COLORADO MINING DISTRICTS — IRON
ORES — OIL-SHALES AND MARBLE — MINERALS — CONCLUDING REMARKS.
CENOZOIC ERA.
This is the third grand division of geological time as applied to the
development of life, although the fourth in geological history. The Cen-
ozoic is divided into two periods, viz., the Tertiary and Quaternary.
The first finds remarkable representation in the fresh-water lake-beds of
the West, which have yielded so abundantly of well preserved mamma-
lian remains, and thus enabled palseontologists to trace, step by step, the
ancestry of many existing species. The Quaternary beds are also well
represented, but have not yet been studied in detail.
The elevation of the interior part of the continent was brought
about by successive stages of upheaval, beginning at the opening of the
Laramie, and terminating at the close of the Tertiary. The first eleva-
tion ceased when the bed of the inter-continental sea had about risen to
tide-level. By the second upheaval, at the close of the Laramie, the
entire region lying east of the Wahsatch, and west of Middle Kansas
and Nebraska, was finally elevated beyond the reach of ocean waters.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 65
The dynamic movement accompanying the second stage of conti-
nental upheaval, produced a certain amount of folding parallel with the
axes of the Wahsatch and Rocky Mountain Ranges. In the region
between these ranges broad areas were depressed, and became the basins
of three immense fresh-water lakes. These basins have been called,
respectively, Green River, Uinta and San Juan. The first was confined
to the country north of the Uinta uplift ; the second covered North-
western Colorado, and a large part of Eastern Utah; while the third
covered the southwestern corner of Colorado, and extended into New
Mexico. During the early Tertiary the lakes of the San Juaii and
Uinta basins may have formed a continuous sheet of water; or, as gen-
erally supposed, the former was merely an extension of the latter during
the Lower Eocene Epoch. A fourth, but smaller lake occupied a
basin lying between the Sangre de Cristo and the southern continuation
of the Wet Mountains. The last is known as the Huerfano basin.
Throughout the epoch of the Lower Tertiary (Eocene) there was a
steady accumulation of sediments, in the Green River and Uinta basins,
until the deposits attained a thickness of 10,000 feet. In the Huerfano
basin sedimentation probably ceased at the end of the Middle Eocene,
and in the San Juan basin at the end of the Lower Eocene.
While sedimentation appears to have continued almost without
interruption through the Lower Tertiary, it is obvious that great cli-
matic changes must have taken place, to have so thoroughly individualized
the groups or stages, which it includes ; for not only are these each- litho-
logically distinct from the others, but there is in each case a marked dif-
ference in the character of the vertebrate remains, — so much so, that the
latter can usually be relied on to determine the relative age of the beds.
The several groups which have been shown to possess distinct
lithological and faunal characters, are known, respectively, as the
Wahsatch, Green River, Bridger and Uinta. The two last find but
meager representation in Colorado, but the former, which are the oldest,
cover large areas in the western part of the State, being well exposed
along the White, Grand and San Juan Rivers.
5 II- •
66 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Underlying the Wahsatch of Northwestern New Mexico, are dark-
colored marly beds, about 500 feet thick, called by Cope the Puerco
group, which are thought from the faunal remains to be still older than
the Wahsatch stage.
The Wahsatch beds or lowest Eocene, consist of variegated clays,
marls, shales and toward the base, sandstones. The Green River beds
consist of highly bituminous shales and marly limestones, usually exhib-
iting a very continuous, thin lamination, suggesting the name "Book
Cliffs" to the extensive exposure of these beds on Grand River. Some
of the Book Cliffs strata are so rich in condensible hydro-carbons as to
yield up to thirty per cent, of dark brown oil on distillation ; and the
rock, when piled up and ignited, burns with a bright tlame like poorer
varieties of cannel coal. The well preserved fossil fishes, so commonly
seen in the Denver curiosity stores, are from the beds of this group in
Wyoming.
Bordering the Great Eocene lakes were dense forests, which
afforded protection and subsistence for countless numbers of strange
animals of types long since extinct. Some idea of the variety and
abundance of mammalian life, in Colorado and the adjacent country,
during this epoch, may be gained from the fact that the species already
recognized, in the remains from the three basins just mentioned, must
be double the number now existing on this continent. Many of the
Eocene species were of gigantic size, and possessed of remarkable char-
acters. Tapir-like forms appear to have predominated. Remains of
the Coryphodon, a genus of Ungulates without specialized characters,
and common in the Eocene of Europe, are common in the Wahsatch
deposits of Colorado, but are entirely confined to this horizon, which
has, in consequence, been designated by Marsh the, "Coryphodon beds."
Remains of the earliest representatives of the Horse family, of the
genus Eohippus, are also found in the same beds ; while the remains of
another genus, the Orohippus, more nearly allied to the modern Horse,
are found in the Bridger beds of the Middle Eocene. Others of still
more modern type, are found in higher members of the Tertiary, the
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 67
approach to the modern form increasing as we ascend, until in the Qua-
ternary the species all belong to the existing genus Equus. The evolu-
tion of the Horse is one of the most interesting of the well-established
facts that palaeontology has given us, — facts which have had great
influence in moulding the present accepted theory of the origin of
species.
The Green River beds contain remains of fishes, plants, and insects
but so far as known, none of mammals. The nature of the life, and the
lithological composition of the Green River group, point to the presence
of brackish-water in the middle and northern of the great Eocene basins
during this stage ; indicating that they had become so far depressed as
to be connected with tide-water through the western outlet.
The succeeding or Bridger beds are noted for containing abundant
remains of the remarkable order, named by Marsh, the Dinocerata.
These animals were of elephantine size, and related somewhat to the
Coryphodon of the Wahsatch. They bore on the head three pairs of
horn core-like prominences, which may have served for the attachment of
horns, but are generally thought to have been simply covered with a
layer of thick horny skin. In addition, they were armed with sharp,
strong tusks, curving downward and backward. Though of great size
and power, they possessed, like most Eocene mammals, an exceedingly
small brain, and were consequently very low in intelligence. Great
numbers of these animals inhabited the Green River basin, during the
Bridger Stage, but disappeared entirely at its close ; for which reason
the horizon has been designated by Marsh the "Dinoceras Beds."
Between the Green River and Bridger beds. King reports a slight non-
conformity ; indicating an interval marked by disturbances, which
suf^ced to elevate the basins above sources of brackish-water ; hence,
during the Bridger Stage, sedimentation took place in fresh water,
and the mammalian hordes again roamed the shores of the Eocene
lakes.
The Uinta beds (Upper Eocene) are well exposed on Lower
White River, where they consist of sandstones and brownish clays and
68 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
marls. In Colorado there are soft strata of doubtful age, exposed on
the Blue and Muddy Rivers in Middle Park, which Hayden has assigned
provisionally to this group but which are probably of later age. Of the
faunal remains from these beds, those of the Diplacodon, a genus of
tapir-like mammals, are the most characteristic, which led to the horizon
being designated the "Diplacodon beds."
The Eocene lake bed of the Huerfano basin, already mentioned, is
of quite recent discovery, and the relation of its Eocene deposits to
those of the great basins west of the Rocky Mountains, remains to be
studied in detail. Among mammals the Tillodonts, which range from
the Puerco up into the Bridger, are represented in the Huerfano beds.
These peculiar mammals combine the general characters of Ungulates
with the enormously powerful incisors common to Rodents. They
were termed by Leidy, who first described them, "gnawing hogs."
Carnivores, true Rodents and Lizards of the genus Glyptosaurus, like-
wise existed in the Huerfano basin during the Eocene Epoch. Glypto-
saurus includes certain species of extinct reptiles having the head and
body covered with small tuberculated, enameled bony plates. So far as
known, the Huerfano beds are the only fresh-water Eocene deposits lying
east of the Rocky Mountains.
Throughout the Lower Tertiary, except in the beds of the Green
River group, remains of numerous species of Ungulates and Carnivores,
are common ; also of Monkeys and Rodents, many of the later species
being more specialized types of allied forms already extinct.
One of the most prominent characters of early mammals and birds,
as Marsh has shown, was the remarkably small size of the brain, when
compared with that organ in existing species. There was, however, a
notable increase in size during the remainder of the Tertiary, while
Quaternary mammals had a brain capacity nearly equal to that of their
modern allies.
The close of the Eocene in Colorado witnessed great changes in
the topography of the land. The ranges were considerably elevated,
and the strata on their flanks, — already more or less tilted by the con-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 69
tinental movement at the end of the Mesozoic, — thrown into great
folds, either parallel or coincident with pre-existing lines of plication.
At the same time, the region between the Rockies and the Wahsatch
was elevated, and drained of its ancient lakes. East of the Front
Range, the immense horizontal pressure, developed by the mountain-
making movement, caused the formation of extensive areas of depres-
sion in the adjacent plains country, and a corresponding elevation of the
land further to the eastward. These depressions became the basins of
the Miocene (Middle Tertiary) lakes; in which were deposited the sedi-
ments now known, respectively, as the Monument Creek, and White
River beds.
In the South Park region, at Florissant, there is a limited extent
of beds believed, from the organic remains, to be intermediate between
the Eocene and Miocene, or to belong rather to the epoch of the
Oligocene. These beds abound in the remains of plants and insects,
and have afforded several species of Fishes of the genus Amyzon, which
has led to their being designated by Cope the "Amyzon beds."
The depression containing the White River beds lies mostly beyond
the Colorado boundary, in Nebraska and Wyoming. The Monument
Creek beds lie wholly in Colorado, covering a considerable area
of country, east of the Front Range, between Denver and Colorado
Springs. Both of these groups belong to the lower Miocene, with the
probability that the Monument Creek beds may correspond to the
lower part of the White River group ; the horizon of the Brontotherium
beds, — so named from the characteristic remains of a gigantic two-
horned mammal, allied to the tapirs and to the Dinoceras of the
Eocene.
The upper part of the White River beds does not contain Bronto-
therium remains, but affords another genus equally characteristic, and
restricted to that particular horizon ; viz., the Oreodon, an animal allied
to the Hog, Deer and Camel. Hence, this portion of the White River
group has been called the Oreodon beds. The Lower Miocene fauna,
also, included new species of the Horse family, many new Carnivores,
70 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Rhinoceroses, Tapirs and Rodents, with the earliest of American
Beavers.
Of the later Miocene beds none are represented in Colorado, these
being confined to the Pacific coast, the Atlantic border, and the Gulf
States.
In the interval preceding the opening of the Pliocene, or Upper
Tertiary Epoch, additional dynamic movement occurred, other depres-
sions were formed, and further elevation took place. But this was the
last mountain-making movement of any importance ; and, except that it
has in places been deeply scored by erosion, the country has essentially
the same orographic features now that it had in the Pliocene Epoch.
The Pliocene deposits of the West include the lower, or Pliohippus
beds, and the upper, or Equus beds, so called from the characteristic
remains of these genera of the Horse family. It has not yet been shown
that either of the divisions is extensively exposed in Colorado, outside of
the North Park basin, although certain limited deposits on the Huer-
fano, and probably others in Eastern Colorado, belong to the Pliocene
Epoch. The North Park beds cover a large area in the North Park
depression, and on the Platte River in Southern Wyoming, but according
to Hague, only develop a thickness of a few hundred feet.
The life of the Pliocene in this region may be inferred from the
many species described from the Nebraska and Wyoming beds. These
include several species of the Horse, Camel, Deer, Rhinoceroses, pow-
erful Carnivores like the Tiger, an Elephant (Elephas Americanus) and
the first Mastodon. The deposits of the Huerfano basin have recently
afforded well-preserved remains of both the Horse and Camel. Many
of these animals were of a size surpassing their living representatives,
but were afterward overshadowed by the giants of the Quaternary.
The existence of man in California, during the Pliocene, has been
maintained by no less an authority than Prof. Whitney, from the finding
of flint implements, and human bones, in supposed Pliocene gravel.
Others, however, who have examined the evidence express doubts of its
authenticity. (Dana.)
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 71
The termination of tlie Pliocene brings us to the close of the Tertiary
Period. Mountain-making movement had ceased, but elevation of the
Rocky Mountain region probably took place, to a limited extent, even
after the Pliocene. From the close of the Marine Cretaceous to the
close of the Tertiary the elevation of the land in Colorado, due to conti-
nental movement alone, amounted to about 6,000 feet, while in the
mountains this was supplemented by about 5,000 feet more, due to
crumpling up of the strata. So in a few localities, notably on the head
of the Rio Dolores, near Mount Wilson, and on the head of Crystal
River, we find the Cretaceous beds tilted up on the flanks of the mount-
ains to an elevation of 11,000 feet above sea-level.
QUATERNARY PERIOD.
This is the last chapter in our geological record, and its closing
epoch brings our history up to the present time. The Quaternary in
America begins with the great ice-age, — the Glacial Epoch. At that
time all of Northern Europe, Including the British Isles, together with
the northern half of this continent, as far south as Ohio and Pennsyl-
vania, was covered to a great depth with a continuous sheet of Ice, whose
duration In time was doubtless very great. The southern limit of the
Ice-field Is marked by a deposit of boulder drift, called the "terminal
moraine." Over all the country lying north of the moraine the rocks
have been fluted and scratched by the steady southward march of the
ice-stream.
With the final melting and breaking up of the North Polar Glacier,
came the Champlain Epoch, — a time of great floods, and of the distri-
bution of immense quantities of the material, which for ages had been
carried forward by the Ice. The Drift Epoch In Europe, — the equiv-
alent of the Champlain in America, — was succeeded by the Second
Glacial Epoch, of much shorter duration than the first. Evidence, by
no means conclusive, Is not wanting of the existence of a Second Glacial
Epoch in America ; and by some geologists this Is beginning to be
regarded as a settled fact. The record left by the extinct glaciers of
72 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
our own mountains, if anything, tends to support this view. Colorado
lies far to the south of the great glacier limits on this meridian ; but the
higher mountains, then as now, must have had a climate similar to less
elevated regions far to the northward, or within the glacial limits.
Hence one might conclude that a time of general glacial in the
north would be represented by a time of local glaciation in our own
mountains.
Evidence of the former existence of glaciers can be observed any-
where in the mountain regions where the elevation exceeds 7,000 feet,
and occasionally local glaciers have crept down into the valleys as low as
6,000 feet. The First Glacial Epoch may be represented by broad
glaciated areas, often covered with heavy boulder-drift, such as we find
on the White River Plateau, in the country just west of the Ragged
Mountains, and in the upper San Miguel region, — areas which have
since been deeply scored by transverse canons. The Second Glacial
Epoch may be represented by a later system of glaciers, which were
confined to the principal valleys, and existed up to a very recent period,
indeed, almost to the present day.
The Animas Valley glacier was, doubtless, the longest of the local
ice-streams, and must have had a length of fully sixty miles. Huge
boulders of granite, transported by the glacier, are found some distance
below Durango. Terminal moraines, or ridges of boulders stretching
across the valley, mark the halting places in its final retreat back to the
snow-fields. One such moraine, formed by two parallel ridges of drift,
crosses the valley at Animas City. All the valleys in the San Juan
INIountains, and in the Elk Mountain region, afford indisputable evidence
of the existence of glaciers at no very distant period ; when the mean
annual temperature was probably lower, and the average precipitation
greater than at present.
The drift deposits of Colorado are, in places, quite extensive,
but have not yet been studied outside of the Denver basin, and the
assignment of any portion of them to the Champlain Epoch is therefore
provisional.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 73
It seems probable that much of the boulder-drift, covering certain
elevated areas of the State, is truly morainal in character and may ante-
date the age of the Champlain, provided the existence of the First
Glacial Epoch, in the Rocky Mountains, shall be clearly established.
On the other hand, the coarse drift of the mountain valleys can only be
considered as the morainal material of the more recent local glaciers
that has been subjected to fluvial reassortment ; consequently all such
drift properly belongs to the present era. The drift deposits scattered
over the plains, or underlying the loess-like accumulations of the great
valleys, are really the only beds which may be regarded as the probable
equivalent of the Champlain. The loess-like deposits, often of consid-
erable thickness, which are frequently met with on the plains and in the
valleys, should no doubt be referred to the very uppermost Quaternary,
when subaerial degradation and corrosion furnished material which
could be distributed by aeolian agencies.
The life of the early Middle Quaternary differed from the modern
in many important particulars. The Carnivores, Ungulates, Probo-
cidians, Edentates and Rodents were all of the most gigantic size ; and
their remains, which are so abundant in the drift of Europe and
America, are found, on the former continent, associated with the
remains and rough stone implements of Palaeolithic Man. In America,
the evidence of man's existence in the Champlain Epoch is confined to
certain remains stated to have been found in the lava-covered auriferous
drift of California, concerning the age of which there is some doubt, and
they may belong to the Pliocene Tertiary. The finding by Mr. Belt, a
well known English geologist, of a human skull in drift, of probable
Quaternary Age, exposed in a railway cut near Argo, may be cited as
indicating the bare possibility of man's existence in Colorado during the
Champlain Epoch. The death of Mr. Belt soon after, and the want of
any complete published statement by him, renders it impossible now to
judge of the value of the discovery. Assuming, however, that the skull
was found in Quaternary drift, the limited thickness of the deposit in
the Denver basin, and in the locality cited, would place the horizon of
74 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the find within the reach of burrowing animals, and through their
instrumentality remains of all kinds might be carried down into the
drift, and in course of time, so far as the eye could discover, appear to
be in place there.
The remains of Quaternary mammals, known to have been found
in Colorado, include species of the Mammoth, Camel, Rhinoceros, and
Horse, all of gigantic size ; indicating that the life was identical with
that of the remainder of the continent. All of these species except
the Mammoth, which had already appeared in the Pliocene, probably
invaded the country at the end of the First Glacial Epoch, but disap-
peared at the beginning of the Second Glacial Epoch, which was fol-
lowed by the invasion of existing species.
Throughout the Cenozoic, the fauna of each succeeding stage
had its allies in the more generalized fauna of the preceding stage ; and
the tendency was strongly toward the development of more perfect
types with greater brain capacity and higher intelligence. But between
the mammals of the lowest known Tertiary and those of the preceding
epoch (Upper Laramie) there is a great zoological break. The Lar-
amie mammals have their affinities among the earlier marsupials of
the Jurassic. The large number of Laramie species brought to light
by the recent investigations of Marsh, are nearly allied to the ancient
types, and fail to exhibit any anatomical characters foreshadowing the
highly organized mammals which suddenly appeared in countless num-
bers in the early Eocene of Colorado and Wyoming.
This is one of the most surprising gaps in the whole range of
geological history. Yet such a break in the continuity of the record
might, indeed, result from the great change of conditions effected by
the continental revolution. It is also within the range of probabilities
that, in the comparatively unexplored portions of the West, especially
the Northwest, we may find transition beds between the Laramie and
Eocene, and in them the remains of the long-sought progenitors of the
Eocene hordes.
There are certain phases of geological development which cannot
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 75
well be treated chronologically, and at the same time comprehensively.
Belonging to this category are the ancient eruptions and ore deposits ;
the consideration of which, for the above reason, has been referred to
the last part of this chapter.
ERUPTIVE ROCKS AND ERUPTIONS.
During the mountain-making period, the entire Cordillerian region
of the West was the scene of great igneous activity, and of eruptive
outbursts in magnitude unsurpassed in the world's history. This activity
was manifested on a grand scale in Colorado, especially in the south-
western portion, and it is safe to say that one-seventh the area of the
State is covered with eruptive rocks. They are found breaking through
metamorphic and sedimentary strata of all ages from the Archaean to
the Tertiary inclusive. The principal eruptions took place in the early
part, of the latter period, a few being of preceding, and others of
somewhat later age ; although few can be cited more recent than the
Miocene, and only one can be referred to Post-Tertiary times.
The kinds of eruptive rocks found in Colorado, not including the
numerous intermediate varieties, are the following, based on the modern
classification :
Porphyry: A crystalline, or granular, aggregate of orthoclase
(potash-feldspar), usually with some plagioclase (soda-lime-feldspars) and
quartz. Other minerals may appear and give rise to varieties, for
instance, hornblende-porphyry. The Colorado porphyries are mainly
quartz porphyries.
Trachyte: Differs from porphyry in containing the variety of
orthoclase called sanidine, and in having a more or less glassy or felsitic
groundmass.
Rhyolitc : Consisting of glass alone (pearlite and obsidian), or of
glass containing a relatively small number of quartz and sanidine crystals
(liparite), or of glass containing a relatively large number of the same
crystals as compared with the groundmass (nevadite).
Diorite: A crystalline aggregate, of like-sized grains, of plagi-
76 HISTORY OF COLORADO. .
oclase, with either hornblende, angite, enstatite (hypersthene), biotite
or quartz. The term is usually qualified by prefixing the name of the
principal constituent mineral, as quartz-diorite, mica-diorite, quartz-mica-
diorite, etc.
Porphyritc: Corresponds essentially to diorite, but with one or
more of the minerals conspicuously (porphyritically) developed as crys-
tals, in the crystalline or granular groundmass.
Andcsitc: Differs from porphyrite, mainly in the groundmass,
which is more or less glassy or felsitic.
All the above rocks have a high percentage of silica, and for this
reason are termed "acidic ;" the five next succeeding contain a compar-
atively low percentage of silica, and are termed "basic."
Basalt: Contains plagioclase and angite, frequently with olivine, in
a felsitic or glassy groundmass.
Dolerite: Corresponds essentially to basalt, but has a granular or
wholly crystalline groundmass.
TcpJiritc: Mainly plagioclase with nepheline or leucite, sometimes
with both, and generally with other minerals as accessories ; in a partly
felsitic or glassy groundmass.
Plionolitc: Principally orthoclase and nepheline, with conspicuous
crystals of sanidine, in a more or less felsitic groundmass.
Peridotite: Consists mainly of olivine, but varieties contain horn-
blende, angite, etc.
Eruptive Breccia: Contains fragments of eruptive or other rocks,
embedded in an originally plastic eruptive matrix.
Ttifa: Consolidated ejectamenta from old volcanic vents.
Volcanic Ash: Consists of fine particles of volcanic glass or dust,
not consolidated.
So far as known, phonolite and peridotite are extremely rare, only
one occurrence of each having been announced by Dr. Cross from Col-
orado localities. The same authority reports as probably nepheline-
tephrite, certain eruptive rocks from the Elk Head Mountains, collected
by Mr. F. F. Chisholm. Trachyte occurs at Silver Cliff, in the Mos-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 77
quito Range, and probably at Del Norte, but is one of the least common
of Colorado eruptives. Limited accumulations of volcanic ash are found
in the Pliocene beds of the Huerfano basin. The remaining eruptives
are of frequent occurrence.
The most recent manifestation of igneous activity in Colorado, was
the outburst of scoriaceous lava on Eagle River, near Dotsero ; which,
according to Prof. Lakes, was poured from a vent situated in a small
amphitheater about three or four miles north of the river. The flow is
quite modern in appearance, suggesting the probability that it may have
been erupted during the historic period.
The most recent of the great Tertiary eruptions that occurred in
Colorado are represented by the vesicular basalts of Grand Mesa, and
of the country lying between Roaring Fork and Eagle River ; likewise,
certain small masses on the Rio Grande near the New Mexico line.
These were preceded by overflows of more compact basalts, dolerites,
and allied basic rocks, which were, in turn, preceded by rhyolites,
andesites and andesitic breccias ; the whole corresponding to a series of
grand eruptions, extending back to the early Tertiary. The older basalts
and dolerites are represented by the Fisher's Peak overflow ; by the
overflows of the White River Plateau and Elk Head Mountains ; by
certain occurrences in the North Park and Middle Park regions, and on
the Piney ; and by the small Table Mountain overflow, near Golden.
The andesites, breccias and rhyolites are well represented in the San
Juan region ; in the district around Silver Cliff ; in the Mosquito Range,
and Ten Mile districts. Rhyolite containing garnet and topaz, occurs
near Nathrop ; while the tufaceous rhyolite of Castle Rock is well
known, being much used for buildings in Denver.
The time of greatest igneous activity probably corresponded to the
period of greatest mountain-making movement, — that is, about the end
of the Eocene Epoch. Belonging to this period are certain porphyries,
diorites and porphyrites, which do not occur as overflows, but appear as
masses of mountain dimensions, tilting up, or arching the flanking strata ;
and sometimes spreading, as huge lens-shaped bodies, laterally beneath
78 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
them. The eruptive cores of the Ragged Mountains, Mount Carbon,
Mount Gothic, Crested Butte, Snow Mass Mountain, Mount Sopris, La
Plata Mountain, Ute Peak, Spanish Peaks, Veta Mountain and Badito
Cone, with several others, are of this character. The same rocks often
occur as dykes traversing sedimentary strata, or as thick sheets intruded
conformably with them. All of these forms are well illustrated in the
Spanish Peaks region.
Eruptive rocks have directly, or indirectly, played an Important part
in the production of the several varieties of Colorado coals ; the change
from lignite to semi-coking or coking-coal, or to anthracite, being in each
case clearly traceable to the heat directly radiated by eruptive masses, or
indirectly applied through the medium of hot water. The association of
these rocks with metalliferous veins can be best considered in connection
with the next subject.
ORE DEPOSITS.
Certain eruptives have apparently greatly influenced the conditions
attending the genesis of many ore-bodies. The analyses of Leadville
rocks by Hillebrand, showed them to contain very minute quantities of
the precious metals and lead, only determinable when considerable of
the material was subjected to analysis. Nearly all the eruptives of Sum-
mit district in Rio Grande County, can be made to yield appreciable
quantities of gold by fire assay. In Europe, where many rocks of this
class have been specially analyzed for metals, small quantities of the
latter are usually found as an ingredient of one or more of the basic
silicates. There is no reason why many Colorado eruptives should not
yield like results when fully investigated. Masses of mountain dimen-
sions, even though containing metals in mere traces, are capable of
enriching the material of veins traversing them, to an extent that will
make the latter economically valuable. In the eruptive rocks, and
probably also in the crystalline schists, we have all the elements required
in the formation of productive veins, under conditions favorable to the
secretion of the disseminated contents. In but few cases does it appear
necessary to call in the aid of solutions ascending from deep-seated
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 79
sources, in order to account for the origin of a particular ore-body; for
admitting that metals were originally brought up from great depths, we
must still regard the eruptive rocks as the most reasonable medium of
translocation, since they have emanated from a source more deep-seated
than it would be possible for circulating waters to attain. The theory
of lateral secretion, now very generally advocated, derives additional
support from the frequent association of metal veins with eruptive
rocks of certain types ; while other types again are seldom knov.m to
contain important ore-bodies.
Notwithstanding the study that has been given to the subject of
ore-deposition, both in Europe and in the United States, and the many
ingenious theories that have been advanced, we are still forced to
acknowledge the fact that in all that relates to the conditions governing
the formation of ore-bodies, we are yet in the speculative stage.
At the present time the following points only can be considered of
general application:
That the most valuable ore-bodies occur inclosed by, or in direct
contact with, either eruptive or highly metamorphic rocks ; or if in sedi-
mentary rocks, then in localities where these have been intersected or
broken by eruptive or metamorphic rocks.
That they may occur as the material filling pre-existing fissures, or
be deposited along contact, — or fault, — planes, by the partial or entire
replacement of the constituents of the inclosing rock.
That they have been deposited from aqueous solutions, which have
derived their metallic contents from the contiguous, subjacent, or not
very remote rocks of the region in which they occur.
While these points cover the majority of known metalliferous occur-
rences, they are very general in character, and, within the limits given,
the ore-bodies themselves show great variation in mode of occurrence
and niineralogical composition and association.
The eruptive rocks most frequently found associated with ore-
deposits are porphyries, diorites. andesites, less frequently trachytes,
and rarely rhyolites, all of which belong to the class of acid eruptives.
80 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
The basic eruptives, like basalt, dolerite, etc., are seldom, if ever, asso-
ciafed with important ore-bodies, — hence the chara':ter of the eruptive
rocks of a region may furnish a valuable clue to those who explore for
metalliferous veins.
The age of the rocks inclosing the veins of a district is of little or
no importance, for we find productive veins in rocks of all ages from the
Archaean to the Tertiary inclusive. Nor is it likely that the oldest veins
are always contained in the oldest rocks ; on the contrary, veins of quite
recent origin may occur in the most ancient varieties of granite. The
ore-bodies of Boulder, Gilpin and Clear Creek Counties, while contained
in granite rocks, are more likely to have originated during the disturb-
ances of the mountain-making period than at any earlier time. The
ore-bodies of Leadville and Aspen are contained in rocks of Carbonif-
erous Age, yet the association of these with eruptive rocks of Creta-
ceous or Tertiary Age, warrants the supposition that the ore-bodies
were formed at a much later period than the inclosing rocks. Con-
cerning the other great vein-systems of the State, there can be little
doubt of their Tertiary age.
The mode of occurrence of ore-bodies is likewise a feature of less
importance than is usually supposed. All forms of deposits, whether
fissures, gashes, bedded veins, segregations, or mineralized zones, have
been found equally productive, and, in turn, marvelously rich. Nor is
there any foundation, as the record of all our older mining districts will
show, for the commonly entertained notion that veins increase in.
richness with depth.
Lithological similarity of the inclosing rocks does not indicate, as a
rule, that the veins of separate districts will be of similar mineralogical
composition. Thus we find the auriferous veins of Boulder County to
contain combinations of gold and silver with tellurium ; those of Gilpin
County to contain the gold in the free state, or mechanically mixed with
pyrites ; while the Clear Creek County ores are largely argentiferous
compounds of base metals, — yet all of these are contained in the same
continuous granite formation of the Colorado Ranee.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 81
It is not the intention liere to enter fully upon the description of all
the different mineral districts of the State ; but for the purpose of illus-
trating the main features of ore-deposition, as exemplified by the vein
systems of Colorado, and already outlined abov'e, brief reference will be
made to the best known and most important.
The remarks on the veins of Northern Colorado, just given, require
but little amplification to enable one to gain a general idea of their true
character. They all belong to the class known as fissure veins, — that is,
they extend, more or less vertically, for a considerable distance into the
earth. The granite inclosing rock is often found to be traversed by
eruptive dykes, and frequently impregnated with ore adjacent to a pro-
ductive vein. The want of similarity in mineralogical composition may
be partly due to the dyke rocks associated with each system of veins ;
yet it would appear more probable that it was due to the latter having
originated in separate zones of granite ; each zone differing from the
other in the composition of its contents, and the secretions it afforded.
The placers of Gilpin and Boulder Counties, which have yielded so
largely in times past, no doubt owe their enrichment to the liberation of
gold, through the constant and long-continued degradation of the aurif-
erous veins of these districts.
Somewhat similar to the Northern Colorado deposits, but much less
productive, are the auriferous veins of Independence on the head of
Roaring Fork, and those of Granite on the Upper Arkansas.
In the Leadville district, which has been very thoroughly studied
and described by S. F. Emmons, the ore-bodies lie in nearly horizontal
position, between the floor of Carboniferous limestone and the roof of
white porphyry, — or in what is termed by miners the "contact." Some-
times the ore, in irregular form, replaces the limestone for a consid-
erable distance below this contact. By a series of faults the ore-sheet,
which was probably once continuous, has been cut up into several sepa-
rate areas or benches.
The most characteristic ore consists mainly of calcareous earthy
matter containing oxidation products of lead and iron ; these metals
6 II.
82 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
existing mostly as carbonates, frequently as oxides, and in exceptional
cases large quantities of iron oxide are present. The silver in the ore is
usually combined with chlorine, bromine and iodine, some of the mines
producing specimens rich in horn-silver. In some mines the ores still
exist as sulphides. Other ore-bodies of this district of an entirely
different character, — like the Printer Boy, mainly auriferous, — have in
times past served to enrich the placers of California Gulch, and probably
those of the Upper Arkansas. According to Emmons the Leadville
porphyry is of late Mesozoic Age (Cretaceous), hence the ore-bodies
themselves must be referred to this age, or to a period still later, — that
is to the early Tertiary.
Outside of the Leadville district, but yet in the same region, are
many others of lesser note. At Red Cliff there are a number of product-
ive ore-bodies, yielding oxidized silver-lead ores of similar character to
those of Leadville, and occurring at nearly the same geological horizon,
may be somewhat older. The deposits are found mostly in metamorphic
strata, though near by are intrusive eruptives, and coarse granite is
exposed in the canon of Eagle River.
The veins of Ten-Mile district belong mainly to the class typified
by those of Leadville, and illustrate very forcibly the iniluence of neigh-
boring or adjacent eruptive masses on the formation of ore-bodies.
Along the Mosquito Range the same connection is apparent. The
veins occur in Palaeozoic strata, frequently cut by dykes of quartz-por-
phyry, diorite or porphyrite. Some of the deposits yield auriferous
ores, others argentiferous galena and oxidation products ; still others, as
at Mount Lincoln, approach the Leadville ores in composition.
The district around Breckenridge, — one of the oldest in the State,
— includes a number of valuable ore-deposits, which on the whole cannot
be referred to any particular system, owing to variation in mode of
occurrence and mineralogical composition. Nearly all the argentiferous
veins contain simply argentiferous ores, usually of lead and copper.
There are exceptions, for instance, on Shock Hill, where base metals are
absent, and the silver exists in the chloride form. Some of the auriferous
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 83
ore-bodies afford exceedingly rich ore, notably the Ontario, which, in
the joints and crevices of the rock, contains beautiful specimens of
matted wire-gold. The rocks in the auriferous portion of the district
are often traversed by eruptive dykes, which may partly explain why the
ore is, in some instances, distributed through zones of altered and
enriched country rock, without well defined boundaries. On the west
side of Blue River, the rocks are granitic or metamorphic.
The placers near Breckenridge were noted for their richness in
times past, and are still productive. The gold of French and Leaven-
worth Gulches is often more or less crystalline, like that of the lodes
from which it was derived.
The same region likewise includes the once rich and still productive
placers of Alma, Fairplay and Tarryall.
The principal ore-bodies of Aspen lie in, or near, a highly inclined
plane of contact in Lower Carboniferous limestone, or between what are
locally termed the "blue" and "short-lime." The deposits of both
Aspen and Smuggler Mountains, which are situated on opposite sides of
Roaring Fork Valley, evidently belong to the same geological horizon,
if not to the same contact-plane, and will probably be found more or less
continuous in the intervening drift-covered valley whenever this shall be
explored. In the vicinity of the Aspen Mountain ore-bodies, the strata
appear to have been synclinally folded between the main Archaean area
on the east, and an intrusive mass of granite at the western extremity of
the mountain ; thus producing a second series of oppositely inclined
beds, also containing a few ore-bodies. Intrusions of partly altered
diorite, or porphyrite, occupy a prominent position in the intervening
trough, and may have seriously faulted, or dislocated, the strata in the
depths. The ore is not always confined to the "contact" between the
"blue" and "short-lime," but may branch out irregularly for some dis-
tance into these rocks, although such spurs or impregnations, are
evidently related to the "contact" ore-bodies.
The bulk of the Aspen ores consists largely of oxidation products
of argentiferous minerals, with true silver minerals, associated with calca-
84 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
reous matter and considerable heavy-spar ; it is therefore what is called
" dry ore," and requires to be mixed with silicious lead ores, or with
matting ores, before it can be treated. A few veins, away from the main
contact, yield ores containing a high percentage of lead ; but they are
not as rich in silver as the dry ores, and as yet do not promise to become
an important source of lead for smelting purposes in this district.
The ore-deposits of Southwestern Colorado, or what is known as
the San Juan country, possess great interest for students of vein
phenomena ; and economically considered, may eventually prove the
most lasting and valuable in the State. In no part of the Rocky
Mountains are metalliferous veins so numerous over such a wide extent
of country.
The majority of the San Juan deposits are referable to the great
system of veins common to all the mining districts of Hinsdale, Ouray,
San iVIiguel and San Juan Counties. The origin of this system may be
briefly explained as follows : During the early part of the Tertiary
Period, an eruption on a grand scale, covered the higher region of the
San Juan Mountains to a depth of 1,500 feet, with an overflow of brec-
ciated andesitic lava, which on cooling, developed fissures of contraction
(shrinkage-cracks) traversing the mass in all directions. The filling of
these fissures corresponded to the formation of the existing system of
veins, which, as a rule, terminate at the base of the breccia. Following
the first grand overflow were others of less magnitude, consisting of non-
brecciated andesites and rhyolites. The dynamic movement attending
these later eruptions, produced in places, fissures which extend below
the horizon of the breccia, into the stratified rocks, but usually cease to
be productive below the eruptive zone. Again, there are ore-bodies,
such as the Calliope, Boomerang, Trout and Fisherman, and Mineral
Farm, which evidently do not belong to the main system, being situated
far below the eruptive horizon. These deposits occur in the vicinity
of dykes of andesite or diorite, which probably mark the channels of
past eruptions, and apparently have had some connection with the origin
of the neighboring ore-bodies.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 85
There are still other ore-occurrences in San Juan which form, as it
were, a group by themselves; among these the deposits of Red
Mountain district are at present the most important. In typical cases
the ore-bodies occupy a series of more or less connected irregular
chambers, trending downward, which were probably at one time the
channels of thermal, or mineral, springs. The action of the mineralizing
water upon the surrounding eruptive rock, brought about complete sil-
icification for some distance away from the chambers, so that the ore-
bodies they contain are in each case virtually distributed through a huge
irregular column of quartz extending to an undetermined depth. The
ore-deposits of this district afford one of the few instances where the
ascension theory can find logical application. The famous Bassick
mine at Rosita has by some been cited as another ; but this theory can
hardly be applied to the great system which has its downward limit at
the breccia.
At a number of localities in the San Juan Mountains there exist
immense decomposed masses of eruptive and sedimentary material, of
yellowish or variegated colors, which appear to have been acted upon
by mineral waters, not confined, as at Red Mountain, to particular
channels, but circulating everywhere, through joints and fractures, or
along bedding-planes, producing, according to the nature of the rock
acted upon, either kaolinization or local metamorphism. No doubt ore-
bodies often exist in these altered masses ; indeed, such have already
been discovered near Ouray and elsewhere, which are considered quite
important.
The bulk of the productive ore from the San Juan district consists
of argentiferous gray-copper, copper pyrites, and galena, associated with
some zinc-blende, and iron-pyrites in a quartz matrix. In particular
districts, like Poughkeepsie Gulch, the ore often contains a high per-
centage of bismuth. In Marshall Basin the most productive mines yield
largely of the true silver minerals, pyrargyrite and polybasite, while the
ore from the same mines carries considerable quantities of gold. Other
mines on the San Miguel drainage, and a few in San Juan County,
86 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
afford auriferous ores only. Tellurium has been found, in combination
with the precious metals, at the Hotchkiss Mine near Lake City.
At Rico on the Rio Dolores there is an interesting group of veins
entirely independent of other San Juan deposits. The ore-bodies are con-
tained in carboniferous limestone, or in the contact between the limestone
and a mass of porphyrite, or andesite ; the intrusion of the latter having
tilted up the sedimentary beds anticlinally, which has been deeply eroded
by the river, down to and below the level of the intrusion and its associ-
ated ore-bodies. Pyrargyrite, and a few other silver minerals, are present
in some of the veins, but the bulk of the ore consists of argentiferous
oxidation products of lead, copper, and manganese, with considerable
galena at lower levels. Large quantities of carbonic acid are exhaled
along the line of the eruptive intrusion, and by its superior density dis-
places the air in sheltered hollows, and along the floors of tunnels, often
to such an extent as to prove fatal to mice and other small animals.
The La Plata Mountains include a district which, while properly-
belonging in the San Juan region, has an entirely independent system of
veins. It may be mentioned as one of the few localities in the world
containing compounds of gold and tellurium. The mass of the La
Plata Mountains is eruptive, and in places, the tilted sedimentary beds
on its flanks have been partly or wholly metamorphosed. There appear
to be two distinct groups of deposits in this district, viz.: Auriferous
veins containing free gold, tellurides, pyrites, and sometimes, as at the
old Comstock mine, argentiferous minerals like cosalite ; argentiferous
veins, containing galena and zinc-blende, with some silver. The matrix
is usually quartz.
While small quantities of very rich ore have been produced from
La Plata mines, the average is generally of low grade and often
refractory. Still the district is not entirely without promise ; valuable
ore has been found there, and exploration may at any time develop
more important ore-bodies.
Of much less value than the metal veins, yet nevertheless worthy
of mention, are the San Juan placers. These are mainly on the San
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 87
Miguel, although some washing has been done on the Uncompahgre,
near the mouth of Dallas Creek, and on the La Plata, below Parrott
City. The gravel of the Animas also contains gold, but hardly in
paying quantities. The San Miguel placers extend from Marshall basin
nearly the entire length of the river, and include large quantities of
auriferous drift that could be profitablv worked with improved appli-
ances and cheaper labor.
The district which includes Rosita and Silver Cliff contains some
unique and interesting forms of ore-deposits, which appear to be
either mineralized zones of country rock, or else ore-bodies without
defined boundaries, like the Bassick. The latter extends to an unde-
termined depth, apparently following an old channel of deposition. In
the former the silver usually exists as chloride ; while in the ore-
bodies of the Bassick type, argentiferous compounds of lead, zinc,
copper, and occasionally tellurium, are found coating, in concentric layers,
detached boulders and pebbles. The ore-bodies of this character have
been thought by some to have been deposited in the channels of ancient
thermal springs ; a view which may be open to question, since it is not
improbable that the channels are simply old eruptive vents, choked up,
so to speak,with worn fragmental ejectamenta,the result, possibly, of an
outflow of mud and boulders. In this case the channels might merely
perform the part of receptacles for lateral secretions, and the assumption
of a deep-seated source would be unnecessary. Rhyolite, trachyte, and
andesite are the common eruptive rocks, and rest immediately on the
granite mass of the Wet Mountain Range.*
The numerous deposits of the Elk Mountain region, including
those of Irwin, Slate River, Gothic, Schofield, Crystal, Ashcroft, White
Pine, Pitkin, Tin Cup, with many others, may be cited as additional
instances of the association of productive ore-bodies and eruptive or
metamorphic masses ; an association everywhere illustrated in the
mining districts of Colorado.
*This district will be fully described in a forthcoming report by S. F. Emmons of the U. S. Geo-
logical Survey.
88 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Regarding the iron deposits of the State, Httle can be said until their
extent has been better determined. So far as known, the workable ore-
bodies are confined to the occurrences on the west side of the Sangre de
Cristo near Villa Grove, at Calumet near Salida, at Ashcroft, and at
several localities in Gunnison County, including those at White Pine
and the deposits near Snow-Mass Mountain. The ores consist of the
oxygen compounds of iron, magnetite, hematite and limonite, of average
purity and richness.
Throughout the coal measures there is considerable low-grade iron-
stone, and in the mountains many deposits of bog-iron ; but neither of
these are sufficiently rich or pure to be utilized, except for fluxing pur-
poses, even under the most favorable circumstances.
Tin-ore has not yet been found in Colorado in important quan-
tities, but its existence has been proved in the Pike's Peak region, where a
few specimens of tin-oxide have been obtained by mineralogists ; hence
there is a possibility that deposits may be found somewhere in the great
Archaean areas.
Nickel-ore occurs in limited quantities at the Gem Mine, near
Silver Cliff ; and a small amount of uranium has been taken out near
Central City.
To describe here all the mineral deposits of the State, which have a
present, or prospective value, would be out of the question ; certain
occurrences, however, possess too much interest to be entirely
overlooked.
In the remarks on the Green River Eocene, allusion was made to
the richness of the shales of this group in condensible, /. c, liquid,
hydrocarbons. The great thickness and extent of this formation in the
Book Cliffs Plateau, invites the consideration of it, as a future source of
mineral oil. It must not be supposed that the present petroleum supply
of the United States can be maintained indefinitely, and a serious decline
in the production might so advance the price of the commodity as to
render profitable the distillation of the richer shales of the Green River
beds. From the tests that have been made it is known that in the Book
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 89
Cliffs exposures, along Grand River, there are as many as fifty bands of
marly limestone, ranging from two to ten feet in thickness, which will
yield twenty per cent, of crude oil; while of the remaining 1,200 feet
there is much that will yield ten per cent. The richer carbonaceous
material can, if necessary, be used as fuel in the distillation process, since
it burns readily w^hen ignited. The distillation of the Scotch shales,
}'ielding from ten per cent, to fifteen per cent., is one of the most profit-
able industries in the British Isles, and it is only a question of time when
a similar industry will be developed in Colorado.
Among other noteworthy occurrences may be mentioned the great
bed of white marble on Yule Creek, in Gunnison County. On both
sides of the creek this bed is exposed, dipping westward about 30°, and
finally disappearing under partly metamorphosed limestone of the same
age (Upper Silurian ?). The marble stratum, denuded of its limestone
covering by erosion, is shown resting on the slope of White House
Mountain, and reaching half way to its summit.
On the weathered surface the rock has been acted upon by frost,
and crumbles readily ; but shallow excavations develop the solid marble
intact. Like the product of similar deposits in Vermont and elsewhere,
the Yule Creek marble varies in quality, from grades suitable only for
architectural purposes, to the highly prized "statuary."
A diamond drill hole, normal to the planes of bedding, showed the
thickness of workable marble to be about eighty feet ; and the core
clearly demonstrated its firmness and excellent quality.
The other rocks of economic value have already been mentioned in
connection with the formations containing them, — it only remains to
note the most interesting and valuable of our non-metallic minerals.
The Pike's Peak region has long been celebrated for its beautiful
specimens of bluish-green microcline (amazon-stone) which have been
exported in large quantities to different parts of the world. The crystals
of smoky-quartz, associated with the amazon-stone, are cut into gems,
in which form the mineral is much used for cheaper kinds of jewelry,
finding a ready sale under the trade name of " smoky-topaz."
90 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Among gem-stones of a higher grade, occurring in the same region,
may be mentioned true topaz and phenacite. The latter, notwithstanding
its rarity, is not often cut into gems, owing to want of hardness. The
topazes furnish very fair stones when cut, which are generally limpid or
of a bluish or wine-colored tint, and range in weight up to 1 50 carats, or
more. The beryls (aquamarines) from Mount Antero, furnish small
gems, up to three carats weight. Corundum occurs in small crystals in
a band of schist (corundum-schist) near Calumet. The crystals are
usually of a bluish tint, and in places, they possess sufficient clearness
and d -pth of color to entitle them to be called sapphires.
Zircon crystals, which are abundant in some Pike's Peak localities,
have been exported to the Eastern States for the extraction of the earth
zirconia ; but the bulk of the supply of this substance comes from the
Southern States.
Colorado contains many other beautiful and rare minerals, and not
a few that are new to science. Many of them are highly valued as min-
eralogical specimens, but find little or no application in the arts.
In concluding the foregoing brief sketch of our geological history,
there remains but to emphasize the most important part of the record.
In the time intervening between the beginning of the Laramie and the
close of the Tertiary, — a period very short indeed, when compared with
the whole geological time, — the great coal measures were deposited, and
the entire region elevated above the ocean by the continental revolution.
Following this came the great eruptions, the deposition of nearly all the
valuable ore-bodies and the final upheaval and crumpling of the Rocky
Mountains. The same period witnessed, also, the sudden appearance,
and gradual development in Colorado and Wyoming, of some of the
most remarkable types of mammals the world has ever seen.
Beyond question, the continental revolution was the prime cause of
the changes associated with the origin of our mineral wealth ; for the
period just mentioned coincided with the beginning and the end of this
revolution, and all the changes were directly connected with the several
phases, of which the record is well preserved.
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER IV.
1872 — Success of the narrow gauge experiment — the Denver pacific consoli-
dated WITH the KANSAS PACIFIC OUR FIRST RAILWAY WAR A YEAR OF
RAILWAY PROJECTS — CENTRAL CITY ANTICIPATES A GOLDEN FUTURE — COMPLETION
OF THE COLORADO CENTRAL TO BLACK HAWK — BUILDING OF THE ARKANSAS
VALLEY RAILROAD TO PUEBLO W. B. STRONG's VISION OF A GREAT SOUTHERN
METROPOLIS — THE DENVER AND SOUTH PARK RAILWAY — NARROW GAUGE CON-
VENTION IN ST. LOUIS OLD STAGING DAYS IN COLORADO J. HARVEY JONES AND
HIS STAGE DRIVERS MOVED BACK BY THE IRON HORSE — BANKING AND INTEREST
RATES EXTRAVAGANCE GIVES WAY TO ECONOMY.
Reviewing further the progress of the Rio Grande Railway in its
experimental stages, we find that machine and repair shops, with car
building works, were erected at the point three miles above the city, on
the Platte River, now known as " Burnham Station," by the Denver &
Rio Grande Company, in the autumn of 1871. At this time the
working force comprised three machinists, three laborers, one boiler
maker and one pattern maker. Meanwhile the success of the narrow
gauge experiment had been, if not fully, very satisfactorily demonstrated
by the operation of the first division. It proved of material commercial
value, also, to the City of Denver in the way of additional trade. Prior
to its opening the only lines of exterior traffic which brought tribute to
this city were in the mining regions of Gilpin, Clear Creek and Boulder.
Merchants in those parts who were financially able to purchase by the
carload in Chicago or St. Louis, used Denver only as a stocking point,
to fill the minor deficiencies. With the inauguration of the new artery
commerce began to expand, by small degrees at first, but in a manner
to indicate heavy accessions when the most populous centers south of
the Divide should be placed in communication by rapid transit. A few
92 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
orders came in from New Mexico, a trade territory that was to be exten-
sively cultivated. It was hoped that as the narrow gauge railroad pro-
ceeded further and further southward under the great scheme projected
by Palmer, Denver would in time supply the principal towns lying south
of Colorado. It was not then anticipated that a gigantic rival, the
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, would step in and crush these aspirations
by diverting the trade of both sections to Kansas City. Some delicious
dreams were indulged in by our wholesale merchants, of the rich com-
merce to come to them from these prolific fields. No doubts of its
acquisition were entertained. It was one of the certainties of the
immediate future. A few years later, before they had enjoyed even a
reasonable opportunity to establish friendly relations with Santa Fe,
every stone in their carefully reared fabric was ruthlessly pulled down by
the rough iconoclasts of the Atchison Company. Nor have our people
since been able to secure more than a fraction of their anticipated trade
in that direction.
Meanwhile the Denver Pacific Railway had become a prominent
disturber of railway traf^c between the East and the Pacific Coast. The
first week in March, 1872, matters reached a crisis which impelled the
resignation by Governor Evans of the presidency, when Gen. R. E.
Carr was chosen in his stead.
This proceeding, brought about after some rather acrid discussion,
gave the Kansas Pacific full control between Kansas City and Cheyenne.
The impossibility of making an equitable arrangement for through
business with the Union Pacific while the management was divided
between two distinct companies, led to the change. The consolidation
was a sudden surprise to the entire community. The reasons subse-
quently made public were, in substance, that the original charter for a
Pacific railway provided for one main continuous line and a system of
branches. The Central and Union Pacific Companies were to construct
eastward and westward respectively, forming a junction at an interme-
diate point. The Eastern Division was one of the branches provided
for in the system, and it was required to make connection with the main
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 93
trunk, first on the one hundredth meridian, but it was subsequently
changed to read at a point not more than fifty miles west of the meridian
of Denver; this, in accordance with the Congressional act of iS66,
changing the Kansas Pacific route from the Valley of the Republican to
the Smoky Hill. The charter provided, also, that the two roads should
pro rate with each other on through business, and be operated as one
line, — not two distinct lines, each endeavoring to harrass and cripple
the other to their own injury and the detriment of the people they were
created to serve.
When the Kansas Pacific was completed to Denver, and had thus
made its proper connection, as it supposed, or assumed, with the Union
Pacific at Cheyenne via the Denver Pacific, Gen. Carr demanded the
pro rate for its west bound traffic, and was promptly refused, on the
ground that the connection had not been made in compliance with the
requirements of the charter, the Denver Pacific being an independent
line and in no legal sense a part of the Eastern Division. By this
course of reasoning, which was not sustained by the facts nor by the
courts, the Union Pacific, having no interest in or sympathy with Colo-
rado, was enabled to put an effectual embargo upon its western traffic,
and, in its results, shut it out from any business communication with
the States and Territories outside its own borders, except Kansas.
The true secret of the opposition of the Union Pacific proved to be
that it desired to compete for the Colorado carrying trade over the
Denver Pacific track, and its managers took this method of enforcing
that consummation. In making the consolidation, the Kansas Pacific
hoped to accomplish its purpose of compelling the pro rate, but its pow-
erful adversary remained obdurate, yielding not an inch of its advantage.
It would neither pro rate nor recognize the Kansas road as a connecting
line. Driven to extremities, Carr and his associates drafted a memorial
to Congress quoting the law relating to the Pacific railroads, epitomizing
the facts stated above, and praying that body to compel the Union
Pacific to obey the law. This memorial was sent to the legislatures of
Colorado, Kansas and Missouri for indorsement, and thence to
94 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Congress, accompanied by a powerful lobby to urge the passage of
proper remedial legislation.
In the meantime the war continued to rage fiercely. Merchants
and consumers alike suffered great damage by the contention and the
embargo. The Kansas Pacific was never a profitable line. Debarred
from through business, it had great difficulty in meeting current expenses.
It may be interpolated here, that until after its incorporation with the
Union Pacific system by Jay Gould and Russell Sage, it was neither well
patronized nor well maintained. Its ties rotted and were not replaced
with new ones ; its iron wore out and was not relaid ; its traffic was
insufiicient to meet its fixed charges, and it declined from year to year
until, when well nigh wrecked, it fell into the hands of the great dictator.
Tom Scott, on behalf of the Kansas Pacific, proposed as a compro-
mise between the contending roads, a through rate from Ogden to
Kansas City, whereby the Union Pacific would receive sixty per cent,
and the Kansas Pacific forty per cent, of the charges, but even this
liberal concession was curtly declined.
The Senate Committee on Pacific railroads, after duly considering
the memorial and the bill which accompanied it, decided in favor of
reporting the bill compelling the Union Pacific to give the Kansas
branch an equitable pro rate in its through business between Cheyenne
and Ogden, but the measure was not brought up for action until near
the expiration of the session, therefore it was buried in the debris of the
adjournment and was never revived until after the admission of the State,
when Senator Chaffee forced an agreement, as will appear hereafter.
In March, 1872, a company was organized with the declared inten-
tion of building a railway to Georgetown, and thence across the mount-
ains by the most feasible route to Salt Lake City, to effect a junction
with the Central Pacific at Ogden. This was a bold move by the Kansas
Pacific to secure an independent outlet to the coast. Carr, Evans,
Moffat and Perry were among the leaders. The design was first to
connept Denver with the chief centers of mining, and second to pene-
trate and develop the well-known resources of the Middle and North
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 95
Parks, where lay immense treasures of coal, iron, petroleum, gold and
silver. The line was to begin at Denver, running thence westerly
through Mount Vernon Canon via Idaho Springs to Georgetown, and
thence over the Range, — Black Hawk and Central City to be connected
by a branch. R. E. Carr was chosen President, John D. Perry Vice-
President, R. R. McCormick Secretary, and D. H. Moffat, Jr., Treasurer.
Perry was appointed a commissioner to negotiate with the people of
Clear Creek County for a liberal subscription in the form of county
bonds. Evans, Hughes and others, also visited and addressed the
people on the subject. As a result, the County Commissioners sub-
mitted a proposition to the electors to vote two hundred thousand dollars
in aid of the enterprise.
About the same time the Colorado Central Company, supported by
the Union Pacific, proposed to build a narrow gauge short line from
Julesburg, or Pine Bluff, up the valley of the Platte, taking in Greeley,
Evans, Longmont and the Boulder Valley coal fields, to a junction with
the Colorado Central, at a point about midway between Denver and
Golden City. This project was an outgrowth of the intense rivalry
between the Kansas and Union Pacific roads, and local contentions
between Denver and Golden. It was advanced, apparently, as a foil to
the proposed Denver, Utah & Pacific, — otherwise the High line, — and
intended to strike a decisive and paralyzing blow at the supremacy and
arrogant pretensions of Denver by virtually destroying the Denver
Pacific, and giving Golden the prestige of a railway center. It became
the subject of a long and bitter controversy. For months the news-
papers blazed with arguments for and against the scheme. It provoked
lively antagonisms between differing factions here and elsewhere. The
Colorado Central interest, led by Henry M. Teller and W. A. H. Love-
land, was arrayed in deadly hostility to the Denver interest, led by Carr
and Evans. The former with some show of right, regarded the mount-
ain counties as their exclusive property. They had mapped out a system
of roads for Gilpin and Clear Creek, and while they could do little or
nothing toward building them, resolutely determined that the Denver
96 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
people, having no right there, should be kept out. Human passions
were stirred to their depths. It was war to the knife, and knife to the
hilt, — Golden against the " Cherry Creek settlement," Teller against
Evans, and the Union Pacific practically master of the situation, though
acting perfunctorily. It wanted to hold the line, but manifested no-
active desire to build.
As an offset to the Colorado Central proposition to build from
Julesburg on the north side of the Platte to Golden, the Denverites
proposed a standard gauge from Fort Kearney straight to their city.
After this had been argued for a time, it was discovered that it would vir-
tually kill the Denver Pacific, without affording them any material relief.
At the election held in April, 1872, Clear Creek County, exasperated
by the long unredeemed pledges of the Colorado Central Company, and
perhaps trusting too implicitly to the assurances given by the Denver,
Utah & Pacific, voted in favor of aiding the latter. Teller, Loveland
and their associates opposed this action at the polls, but were unable to
defeat it. However, the movement came to naught.
The extension of the Boulder Valley road from Erie to Boulder was
effected by the enterprise of some of the principal citizens of that town,
who subscribed the funds to grade and tie the roadbed. This work was.
begun on the 21st of March, 1871. Having executed their part of the
agreement, the people naturally expected a prompt response on the part
of the company, but nothing further was done until the early days of
June, 1872, when the property was transferred to the Boulder Valley-
Railway Company. Col. L. H. Eicholtz was then commissioned to put
in the bridges and lay the iron. After many delays the road was finally-
completed to Boulder September 2, 1873.
In June, 1872, Gen. T. E. Sickels, chief engineer of the Union
Pacific, appeared in the Territory, evidently commissioned with the duty
of reducing the affairs of the Colorado Central Company to some kind of
practical order, and thereby enable his company to build the line to
Black Hawk. The people of Gilpin and Clear Creek Counties becoming
impatient, resolved to have a railway, and openly declared that if the
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 97
Union Pacific delayed much longer tliey would lend all their influence to
any company that would pledge itself to make the connection. A
pleasant and rather sagacious diplomat was Gen. Sickels. The impres-
sion he made in his walks and talks with the people was highly favorable
to the successful issue of his mission. In 1871 Gilpin County had voted
three hundred thousand dollars in bonds to the Colorado Central Com-
pany, yet very little had come of it. It had then been stipulated as a
part of the contract that the road should be completed to Black Hawk
by May i, 1872, and that it should be extended to Central City and
Nevada. But the undertaking proved too great for the limited time,
and the limited means employed in the work. Hence the bonds were
forfeited. Moreover, a strong feeling of hostility had been incited by
the long and perplexing inaction.
Sickels, having carefully measured the general sentiment, invited
conferences with deputations of prominent citizens, and finally with the
County Commissioners, with whom, after due explanations, a new treaty
of alliance was perfected. This was, in effect, that a new proposition to
vote two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in bonds should be sub-
mitted to the electors, with the proviso that the railroad company should
finish its line from Golden to a point near the junction of North and
South Clear Creeks by September i, 1872, to Black Hawk by the first
of January, 1873, and to Central City within one year. The extension
to Nevada was relinquished on the ground of engineering difficulties, but
the terminus at Central was to be at a point substantially the same as
that now employed.
Sickels, in his extreme anxiety to reach a distinct and favorable
understanding, made many verbal statements to the author and others
concerning rates to and from the mines, which, could they have been
realized, would have established much pleasanter relations between the
people and the company than now exist. For example, he stated to me
personally, that a maximum charge of two dollars per ton on freight
from the V'alley to Black Hawk would be ample, affording the road
satisfactory profits upon the tonnage as then estimated.
7 "•
98 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
The people of Gilpin County formed many radiant pictures of their
destiny when the road should be secured. It was their e.xpectation that
Central would develop into a large and prosperous city, the seat of a
golden empire ; the center of industrial and speculative enterprise ; of
vast commercial houses ; of palatial dwellings, and in the course of years
would become the supreme influence in the land. It was not only to
rival, but eclipse the rather nebulous splendors of Denver, and set all
■other towns wild with envy. Partly upon this assumption the Teller
House was built by our senior Senator at the National Capital, wherein
was irretrievably sunk a large part of his private fortune. An odd expres-
sion used by Mark Twain, — " They danced blithely out to enjoy a rain-
bow, and got struck by lightning," — seems to fit the case.
After two years of labor and almost continuous turmoil, the Col-
orado Central narrow gauge was finished to Black Hawk, on Sunday,
December 15, 1872. The depot used was a stone mill, erected some
years previous by Gen. Fitz John Porter, then manager of the New York
& Colorado Mining Company, but never used for the purpose intended.
It soon became evident that this was to be for a long time, if not the
permanent, terminus of the road, whereat the people of Central com-
plained vociferously, but without effect. The engineers found it impos-
sible to build the road straight up the gulch, therefore the only alternative
was the " switchback," subsequently resorted to, but which at that time
the company was not prepared to undertake. The County Commis-
sioners therefore cut ofi fifty thousand dollars from the amount of bonds
voted, as a fair compensation for the loss of the extension. The
terminus remained at Black Hawk until the 21st of May, 1878, when the
last rail was laid, and the last spike driven, at or near the present site of
the depot in Central City.
The first locomotives used on the road between Golden and Black
Hawk were, if I remember rightly, second hand machines, suited to the
ordinary purposes of construction trains, but wholly unsuited to so large
and various a trafiic as that which sprung up when the road was com-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 99
pleted. They were equal to hauling only two or three loaded freight
cars over the tremendous grades and innumerable curvatures.
In July, 1872, Boulder County voted two hundred thousand dollars
in bonds to the Golden and Julesburg railroad, and a week later Weld
County voted one hundred and fifty thousand to the same project. The
line as now proposed was from Julesburg to Greeley, thence up the
Platte to the St. Vrain, up that stream to Longmont, thence via Boulder
and the Marshall Coal banks to Golden City.
About the middle of September, 1872, Gen. Carr, President, and
Superintendent Bowen of the Kansas Pacific, arrived in Pueblo, where
they were joined by Col. Lamborn of the Denver & Rio Grande. They
met and conferred with a committee of citizens at the office of Wilbur F.
Stone, attorney for the Rio Grande, with a view to devising ways and
means for the extension of the Kansas road to Pueblo. Carr was
extremely anxious to make the connection, and the people were by no
means averse to having a second outlet, provided the terms could be
made mutually agreeable. Carr offered to build if the county would
subscribe three hundred thousand dollars to the stock, and upon this
basis would sign a contract to have the road in operation within eighteen
months from the date of the ratification of the agreement by the people.
The Committee informed him that his terms were too high, that no
such proposition would be accepted if submitted, and flatly refused to be
the bearers of it to the Board of Commissioners. While the people
were friendly to the Kansas Pacific, and would probably respond to a
reasonable call for aid, they could not be induced to add three hundred
thousand dollars to the obligations already incurred. It was finally
arranged that the Commissioners should be petitioned to submit a sub-
scription of two hundred thousand dollars, with the stipulation that the
terminus should be located on the north side of the Arkansas River, and
the depot buildings within a mile of the court house.
While these negotiations were pending, the Atchison, Topeka &
Santa Fe, which had been rapidly pushed westward, began to inves-
tigate the opportunities for a branch from its main trunk to Pueblo. At
100 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
this time its roadbed had been graded to a point about forty miles
below Fort Lyon. Regular passenger trains were running to Fort
Dodge. The Kit Carson branch of the Kansas Pacific had been graded
to within ten miles of Fort Lyon.
On the 20th of November, 1872, articles of incorporation of the
Kansas & Colorado Railway Company, afterward changed to the
Pueblo & Arkansas Valley, were prepared and filed. The object, as set
forth in the charter, was to construct a road from the eastern line of
Colorado Territory up the Valley of the Arkansas via Pueblo into Lake
County. The capital stock was placed at one million dollars. The
trustees for the first year were Thomas and Joseph Nickerson, Isaac T.
Burr, F. H. Peabody, Alden Speer, C. W. Pierce, C. K. Holliday, D.
L. Lakin and T. J. Peter. This company proposed to form a con-
nection with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe road, and it was under-
stood to be a branch of the same.
The introduction of this new and aggressive factor was by no means
palatable to the Kansas Pacific directors. It provoked also all manner
of contentions among the people. Carr had been slow and deliberate
in his movements. On the other hand, the manager of the Atchison
was energetic and rapid. Pending the expiration of the call for an
election to vote on the Kansas Pacific subsidy, he adroitly slipped in and
laid before the commission a more attractive proposal. This opened
a general war ; the people split in factions, each contending with its best
ability for its particular view of the questions involved. With each
day the battle grew more and more animated ; it was the paramount
and all absorbing topic on the streets, in the stores, shops, hotels, every-
where. The excitement fattened upon various reports and rumors set
afloat from day to day. The Atchison people plunged into the conflict
with their sleeves rolled up. W. B. Strong, until recently (August,
18S9) the President of the company, while acting as its Vice-President
and General Manager in 1878-79, personally related to me that he had
conceived the idea of building to Pueblo, and by the various influences
he could bring to bear, to create a powerful trade center at that point,
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 101
ttiat would sap and possibly undermine the commercial prestige of
Denver. He had in view a number of extensions, notably to Canon
City, and thence into the mountains via the Grand Canon of the Ar-
kansas, with perhaps a line into the San Juan country. It was his pur-
pose to so concentrate the traffic of Southern and Southwestern Colo-
rado at Pueblo as to entirely cut Denver out of any participation in the
trade of that part of the country. Large wholesale houses in dry goods,
groceries, hardware, clothing and other lines were to be established, and
supplied from Kansas City over his road. This is, in brief, a fair
outline of his plan. We shall see as this history develops, how and why
it failed.
The infusion of this new element, the predetermined sweeping rev-
olution in the carrying trade of the South ; the sudden and amazing
transition from wagon transportation and slow coaches to which the
people had been so long accustomed, and to which their intercourse
with other communities had become attuned, produced much unwar-
ranted local disturbance. Here was the promise of two more roads
that when built would transfer all desirable prestige from Denver to
Pueblo. Those who had little to lose were for both, but the more con-
servative who had to foot the bills studied the question from all sides,
turning their faces toward the one that promised most for the imme-
diate future. Each asked for two hundred thousand in bonds, but one
must be sacrificed. They had already issued that amount to the Rio
Grande, and could ill afford to treble the burden. The Kansas Pacific
being first in the field, the County Commissioners submitted its proposal
to be voted on December 3, 1872. A few days prior to that date the
Atchison people secured the ears of the commissioners and persuaded
them to order a postponement of the election to the 21st of January fol-
lowing, and at the same time to call an election for a vote on their prop-
osition a week earlier, otherwise on the 14th of January. This action,
while it delighted the Atchison faction, excited a storm of indignation
from its opponents, who boldly charged the commissioners with having
been corrupted. They denounced the Atchison as a bankrupt corpo-
102 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
ration that was simply playing a game of bluff without serious intentioji
of carrying out its pledges. Nevertheless, the bonds were voted in its
favor, and the building of the Pueblo & Arkansas Valley road was the
result.
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway crossed the State
line of Colorado, en route to New Mexico, January i, 1873, and was
extended to Granada, twelve miles beyond, a town of its own creation,
on July 4 of that year, where it rested for a time. In December, 1875,
it was advanced to La Junta. The branch to Pueblo was completed
February 26, 1S76.
The first annual fair of the Southern Colorado Agricultural and
Industrial Association was opened October 9, 1S72, and continued four
days. Its President was George M. Chilcott ; Vice-President, Richard
Gaines ; Secretary, Frank S. Pinckney ; Treasurer, Wilbur F. Stone.
It was a very creditable exhibit of the resources of the region, was well
attended, widely advertised, and attracted some immigrants, which was
the principal design.
September 30, 1872, articles of incorporation for the Denver &
South Park Railway were signed by Bela M. Hughes, Joseph E. Bates,
Charles B. Kountze, D. H. Moffat, Jr., Frederick A. Clark, Fred. Z.
Salomon, Henry Crow, W. S. Cheesman, and John Evans, and filed
with the County Recorder October i. The route defined was from
Denver to a point in the South Park, to be fixed at a subsequent date.
Like all local projects except the proposed High line to Central and
Georgetown, that was built only on paper, it was to be a narrow or
three foot gauge. The capital stock was placed at two millions and a
half, and the term of its existence at fifty years.
Nine trustees were chosen, comprising the corporators named above,
with Leonard H. Eicholtz and J. C. Rieff. This enterprise, like that of
the Rio Grande at the outset, seemed to the superficial observer wholly
chimerical. There was no visible prospect of securing traffic enough in
that direction to pay the running expenses. Excepting Littleton, there
was no settlement whatever on or near its route. It was by far the most
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 103
expensive line thus far projected. There was scarcely an acre of ground
under cultivation between Denver and Fairplay, along the projected
line. It is true that in the Platte Canon there were extensive belts of
pine timber, and along the base of the mountains immense quantities of
building stone, lime and gypsum, but none were opened, nor was there
any considerable demand for such products. The best the public jour-
nals could say in commendation of the enterprise was, that the South
Park was an unsurpassed dairy section, while some of the intermediate
valleys were susceptible of cultivation, and combined all the essential
prerequisites for the production of butter and cheese. There were some
mines, but they were comparatively undeveloped. It was a fine grazing
region, — had been so from time immemorial. For centuries anterior to
the " Pike's Peak immigration " it had been the favorite resort of every
species of quadruped game, and the classic ground of the old hunters
and trappers. California Gulch had been worked out, and Leadville
was unknown, undreampt of.
Notwithstanding, these railway trail blazers who were given to
building the roads first and developing the country afterward, persevered
in their apparently unpromising work. By the time the road had been
finished to Morrison, the panic of 1873 struck and overwhelmed them.
It seems to have been the fate of every railway scheme undertaken by
John Evans to meet with about all the trials and obstructions in the
calendar.
The trustees elected as officers of the company John Evans, Pres-
ident; D. H. Moffat, Jr., Vice-President; George W. Kassler, Secre-
tary, and Charles B. Kountze, Treasurer.
In October, 1872, articles of incorporation of the Morrison Stone,
Lime and Town Company were filed, and bore the signatures of John
Evans, D. H. Moffat, Jr. and Henry Crow. Its purpose was the devel-
opment of the resources in stone, lime, gypsum and other raw materials
so lavishly diffused about that region. A town was laid out. The first
division of the South Park railroad was built to Morrison, and there
remained for some time.
104 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
The splendid results achieved by Gen. Palmer and his skillful aids
in establishing the practicability of the narrow gauge principle, attracted
universal attention. It had become one of the most notable new railway
enterprises of the Continent. But that it was still in the experimental
stage was clearly indicated by the character of the locomotives, the
lightness of the iron rails, and the rolling stock. The trains were but tiny
affairs which suggested the idea that any ordinarily powerful gust of
wind might lift them off the track and scatter them over the prairie.
But we started out to say that the attention given these efforts
resulted in a convention of narrow gauge railway builders, in the city of
St. Louis, on the 28th of June, 1872. It was a large and eminently
respectable gathering, which took up and seriously considered all the
questions involved. The managers of the Rio Grande, by means of
their prominence, were looked to for the best light attainable.
In the course of the proceedings a committee was appointed to
report upon the peculiar merits of the system, and Col. \V. H. Green-
wood was made its chairman. The report submitted was lengthy,
covering all the developed facts at that early stage of progression. The
three feet gauge was recommended as a standard for the country at
large, because it would secure uniformity, and was best adapted to the
construction of through trunk lines from East to West, and from North
to South. The system commended itself to the judgment of railway
builders on account of its cheapness in comparison with the broad gauge,
and its adaptability to rolling and mountainous regions ; because the
cost of operation was twenty-five per cent, less than the broad gauge ;
because the expenditure of power stands, or then stood, in the relation
of about thirty-five to fifty-four in freight, and eleven to thirty in passen-
ger tariffs. It was especially commended for use in the Southern States,
and for the quick development of sparsely settled sections, because its
smaller cost placed it within the means of such sections as could not
well afford the more expensive gauge. In short, it was the deliberate
opinion of these elated revolutionists that the reign of the broad gauge
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 105
as the controlling power on this Continent would be broken by the
rapid growth of the new idea.
Yet, after seventeen years of trial, while it has made more than
ordinary progress, it has created no material diversion in railway affairs.
The Colorado system is undoubtedly the most extensive and perfect of
its class in the world, and while the same gauge has been adopted in
Canada and in various parts of the United States, it has not superseded
the standard in any country Avhere the latter was wholly practicable, and
even here, under the recent presidency of Mr. D. H. Moffat, the main
line of the Rio Grande is being gradually changed to the standard.
In 1872 there were seventy-four narrow gauge railways in the
United States, and five in Canada, the latter being, however, three feet
six inches instead of three feet wide. There were at that time, including
those in Colorado, something over one thousand miles of such roads
under construction in the United States and Canada.
The incoming of railways caused the disappearance of the ad-
mirable stage lines, which from the earliest settlement had enlivened
the streets of the commercial and political metropolis. Rejoice as we
may that they have been eliminated from the problem, never to be
restored, the memory of their old-time impressiveness is a pleasant one
to the pioneer whose association with and dependence upon them for
mails, express matter, and more rapid locomotion than walking, and
many other conveniences, endeared them to him. None who lived in
the period from 1859 to 1870 will forget the gaudily painted and rather
imposing Concord coaches, drawn by six splendid horses, guided by the
most expert reinsmen in all the land, as they dashed through the then
uncrowded and sparsely settled streets to or from the central station,
where their burdens were received or deposited. Nor will those who
survive him fail to cherish among the happier recollections of their lives
the winning smiles and gentle presence of the managing agent, Mr. J.
H. Jones, who from 1867 to the day of his death presided over the
stage and express office. He was one of the noblest types of men that
ever the Almighty set his seal upon ; a great, generous, sympathetic
106 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
heart, filled with benevolence ; with malice toward none, with charity
for all, pursuing the right as God gave him to see the right, from the
beginning to the end of his days ; affable, refined and affectionate, pas-
sionately attached to his family and more intimate friends ; possessing
in a higher degree than I have elsewhere witnessed the graces and the
sum total of all that constitutes our grandest ideal of perfect manhood.
His mind was as clear as a silver toned bell, quick to grasp the con-
ditions presented, and as quick to give his decision and to execute the
strict letter of his duty. His views of men and events were broad and
catholic, his manner under all, even the most trying circumstances, cour-
teous and agreeable. We cannot imagine the nature of the man who,
knowing him, could feel any sort of bitterness toward him. Yet when
firmness was necessary, no man could be more positive and unyielding.
His deportment among his fellow men during the most perplexing and
wearying cares of his office was the very essence of kindness and good
will. His inflexible fidelity to his employers and to the public interests,
illustrates in some degree his fine administrative abilities, while his efifi-
cient mastery of the rude elements with which his lot was so frequently
cast for so many years, gives further proof of his sterling qualities.
J. Harvey Jones was born in the Old Dominion of Virginia, whence,
while still a young man, he removed to Missouri. In 1853 he was a
freighter on the plains between the trading stations on the Missouri
River and Salt Lake City. He came to Denver in 1867 as the agent
of the Wells-Fargo Express Company, which then conducted a line of
stages from Fort Kearney to Salt Lake City and California. For
twenty-one years he was one of the most familiar and lovable figures in
our city, and during all that time was seldom absent from his desk in
the office.
Oh! those old staging days! While we may rejoice that they have
passed "to the long roll of the forgotten," what a procession of scenes
exciting and pleasant are recalled as we write of them. How delightful
it was to see this genial director and his beautiful, sprightly children
hovering about the coaches in the early morning, while they were being
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 107
loaded for the East six hundred miles away, or for the mining camps
among the snow-crowned mountain tops ; the hardy, sun-browned,
weather-beaten faces of the incomparable, drivers beaming down upon
them, their hearts softened and refined by the innocent prattle of the
children, — whom each would have periled his life to save a sorrow, — as
they danced gleefully about the horses, or clambered up to the lofty
perch in the box and chattered to them as they sat awaiting final orders.
But there were days when these coaches and their drivers were
forced to rush wildly through the red flames of Indian wars, when they
came in riddled with bullets, with now and then dead and wounded pas-
sengers ; when for hundreds of miles savage foes lay in ambush for
them, bent upon their destruction ; when armed guards sat upon the
decks and fought off the red devils while the horses ran the gauntlet of
their fierce onslaughts. And there were days, too, when tornadoes,
cyclones and blizzards swept over and engulphed them ; when coaches
and horses and drivers, covered with snow and sleet, wandered through
days and nights out upon the trackless desert in the vain search for a
thoroughfare and for shelter. Few, if any, of the drivers, no matter
how fierce the trials that environed them, ever deserted their posts or
failed to bring their precious consignments to a harbor of safety.
Surely no tribute of honor and praise is too great for the work they did
and the perils they encountered in the times that tried men's souls to
the uttermost.
In becoming a center of railways Denver ceased to be a center of
staging. First we had the C. O. C. and P. P. express; next Ben Hol-
laday, succeeded by Wells-Fargo, and they in turn by John Hughes &
Co., and finally by Spottswood, Bogue & Co., with the Smoky Hill,
Butterfield line sandwiched between. The Western Stage Company
also established a daily line of coaches from Omaha to Denver and
thence to Central City in 1859. When the Colorado Central began
running trains to Golden City, six-horse coaches ran daily from that
terminus to Black Hawk, Central City, Idaho and Georgetown, via
Virginia Canon. A tri-weekly line plied between Denver and Fairplay,
108 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
making the long trip over the rugged roads and high mountains in
eighteen hours, stopping over night on the way. At Hamilton, in the
South Park, stages ran tri-weekly to Breckenridge. A similar line was
established between Colorado Springs and Fairplay via Manitou and
Ute Pass. The Colorado stage company having these lines in charge
ran a coach weekly between Fairplay and Canon City. From the
former point to Granite, then a productive gold mining camp, a wagon
conveyed passengers, mail and express once a week. From Central City
to the silver mines about Caribou and Nederland, in Boulder County,
M. F. Beebee, of Black Hawk, ran a regular line of coaches or wagons.
The Denver & Rio Grande railroad put an end to staging between
this city and Pueblo. For some years Mr. A. Jacobs owned and
operated the stage line between the two cities, and it bankrupted him
for the want of patronage. From Pueblo, Barlow, Sanderson & Co. ran ■
a tri-weekly coach up the Arkansas River to Cafion City, tri-weekly down
that stream to Fort Lyon, and daily southward to Trinidad, Cimarron,
Fort Union, Las Vegas, Santa Fe and other towns in New Mexico. On
some, indeed most parts of their lines, wild Mexican bronchos were
employed, animals which, though strong and fleet and serviceable, were
wholly untameable. I remember taking a trip over these lines in the
early days, when several brawny men were required to get the bronchos
into harness, and when hitched to the coach, to hold them from running
away with it before the driver could seat himself and secure a firm grip
on the reins. When he was ready he gave an Indian war whoop, the
attendants let go, when the bronchos shot off like the wind, keeping up
the headlong flight until well nigh exhausted. Stopping at Bent's Fort
to change, it was with the greatest difficulty they were unhitched, but
once loose the leaders darted off to the Arkansas bottoms, rearing,
kicking and plunging as if actually insane, and as if nothing short of a
rifle ball, well aimed, would ever again place them under control. At
another place one of the infuriated beasts broke loose and fled up a
mountain side, over rocks and through dense thickets, until stripped of
his harness.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 109
There are some among the early settlers, but chiefly confined to the
rural districts, who entertain the profoundest contempt for railroads,
telegraphs and all modern improvements ; who irreconcilably bemoan
our decadence from the good old staging ways as a sufficient means of
rapid transit, and ox trains for the conveyance of whisky and merchan-
dise. They cannot endure the later civilization, having no respect for,
nor part in it. The coming of the locomotive meant to them the utter
annihilation of the old order of things, destruction of sacred idols and
temples, the introduction and encouragement of vandalism. Not along
the highways, but in the by-ways, remote and secluded places, these old
hermits are still to be found, and if the occasional traveler who meets
them will but lead up to the subject, they will recount marvelous tales
of by-gone days when they were young and living forces in a land now
peopled by men whose ways are not their ways. But one must accept
these recollections with due allowance, for however honest in relating
them in old age, their memories are not to be trusted for the retention
of exact details. Nevertheless, they will be interesting.
In the summer of 1872 the money market in Denver, though
evincing premonitory symptoms of the approaching panic of 1873, was
reported easy, with interest rates at from eighteen to twenty per cent,
per annum, on first-class commercial paper. Extortionate as these rates
seem to us of the present day, they were considered quite liberal when
compared with those of the previous decade, when they ranged between
five and twenty-five per cent, a month, on substantial collateral. It is a
fact that George W. Brown, who established one of the first banking
houses in Denver, and was also one of the first Collectors of Internal
Revenue appointed by President Lincoln, loaned money in small sums
at twenty-five per cent, per month. Most of his contemporaries did the
same. Money was money in those days, and the fortunate few who
possessed it were able to secure any rate they chose to demand. For
years the ruling rate on commercial paper at the regular banks was three
per cent, per month, and from that to five per cent. Though the
charges were extortionate, the risks were proportionately great, as there
110 HISTORY OF COLORADO,
was no fixed value to property. Under the prevailing instability of
things the man or bank which loaned money had to take serious chances.
The disgust of the old frontiersman, who exclaimed when he saw
articles in a store marked "seven cents," for which he had been accus-
tomed to paying a dime or a quarter, that the country was going to the
devil now that the storekeepers were making change with copper coins,
expressed the prevailing sentiment down to about 1870. It was some
time, however, before nickels were introduced and decently accepted, but
there we drew the line. The epoch when twenty-five cents was the
smallest coin in circulation, when every one carried his little buckskin
sack of gold dust ; when the lucky gulch miner after a surprising clean up
could go to a saloon with a party of comrades, and after ordering the
drinks scatter handfuls of gold about the barroom to show his opulence,
passed away with the period of ox teaming and staging. Opportunities
for fortunate strikes and sudden enrichment were not so frequent as they
had been. The original prospectors who made the strikes had gathered
the cream, and left their successors the skimmed milk for their portion.
Merchants had to content themselves with smaller profits, the miner to
work claims that yielded, under the wasteful methods in vogue, only
ordinary wages. Farmers who had been receiving from three to six
dollars a bushel for grain, had to sell in lower markets, and found
themselves forced to diversify .their produce by the additions of the
dairy, the poultry yard and the vegetable garden. In like manner
lawyers and doctors were subjected to corresponding reductions in their
fees, by the general shrinkage.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. Ill
CHAPTER V.
1872 — Founding of manufactures in denver — john w. smith's woolen mill —
SINKING AN artesian WELL THE DENVER HORSE RAILWAY THE DENVER WATER
COMPANY CONTRACTS WITH THE CITY BEET SUGAR ATTEMPTS TO ESTABLISH
ITS MANUFACTURE — WHY THEY FAILED ORGANIZATION OF FREE MASONS AND
ODD-FELLOWS THEIR STRUGGLES TO SECURE A FOOTHOLD RESURRECTION OF
THE STATE MOVEMENT J. B. CHAFFEE's WORK IN CONGRESS MEASURES PASSED
FOR THE BENEFIT OF COLORADO.
There has never been a tune since Denver became an incorporated
city when there have not been vehement calls for the founding of great
•manufactories here. The press, the various trade organizations, and
the people collectively, have been pushing these appeals out into the
Union and over the Atlantic, as if the very life of the city depended
upon the possession of a forest of smoking chimneys and clouds of work-
ing men. For nearly thirty years this agitation has been steadily main-
tained, and while Denver is still without great manufactories, some note-
worthy advancement has been made in that direction, and it is largely
due to persistent advertising of its advantages. No manufactures worth
mentioning were established until after 1870. In that year, however,
what was regarded as an important acquisition to our infantile in-
dustries was brought about by the enterprise of John W. Smith, who in
connection with John Winterbottom, founded a woolen mill. It mat-
tered not to them that the wools produced were suited only to the fabri-
cation of the coarsest goods, as blankets, carpets, etc ; for such there
was a brisk demand, which might and ought to be supplied by our own
mills, therefore they put up a building, purchased the necessary ma-
chinery, stocked their warehouses with the best grades of raw material
to be obtained from our own wool growers, and made a beginning.
112 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
In September, 1870, the mill was put in operation. The building;
stood on the south side of Larimer street in West Denver, near the Mill
Ditch. They manufactured blankets, yarns and coarse flannels, and
were prepared to turn out cassimeres, satinets, jeans, etc., if required.
Sixteen hands were employed, and the concern seemed in a fair way to
accomplish the ambition of its proprietors, when the dull times of 1872,
followed by the panic of 1873, came on and crushed it. Thus began
and ended the first and only attempt to found woolen mills in the Rocky
Mountain region.
But in the years succeeding this failure rapid improvement was
made in the quantity and quality of our domestic wools. In 1870
the export amounted to about one million pounds; in 1871 it had more
than doubled. In 1888 the export was estimated at ten million pounds.
The climate, because of its dryness, and the short, nutritious, native
grasses, are especially favorable to wool growing. The fine opportu-
nities presented caused many to invest heavily in the business. Thor-
oughbred stock soon took the place of less valuable Mexican breeds,
and to-day few States produce finer wools than Colorado.
As an inducement to manufacturers, and at the same time with a
view to effecting a solution of the vexed problem of additional water
supply for the city, in the summer of 1870 a company was organized to
bore for artesian water. The site selected for the experiment was a
point on the heights southeast of the city, perhaps the most unfavorable
that could have been chosen. Gen. Palmer, Gov. Hunt, Gen. John
Pierce, and others, were the directors of the movement. Fifty or more
subscribers paid fifty dollars each into the general fund, the machinery
was bought and placed. At a depth of about tv/o hundred and fifty
feet water was found, but it rose only to the height of eighty feet in the
well. Thereafter the drill passed through, soft soapstone and clay
shales, when much trouble was experienced from caving. Under great
difficulties the well was sunk to a depth of four hundred and fifty feet,
when it became necessary to insert tubing, which could only be obtained
in the East. Two hundred and fifty feet was ordered and inserted, but
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 113
it failed to cure the difficulty. After repeated trials and failures the
scheme was abandoned. Ten years later the problem of artesian water
supply, which has been of incalculable benefit to the people for
domestic uses, and as an important aid to the development of the manu-
facturing interest, reached its solution through a fortunate accident on
the heights of North Denver, as will appear in its proper order.
Following the general course of improvements, all matters of his-
torical interest should be noted, since they are parts of the great mosaic,
and may be valuable for reference, if nothing else. Hence we note the
fact that the charter of the Denver Horse Railway was granted by the
Territorial Legislature in 1865, before Congress filed its objections to
private charters, when any project, however wild or visionary, could be
incorporated by a special act. When the bill was introduced, and
during the regular course of legislation upon it, the proposition became
the butt of much broad and boisterous humor. The absurdity of the
idea rendered it attractive to the legislative wits, hence many a joke was
passed upon it. The little hamlet, for it was scarcely more, seemed
about as likely to need a ship canal as a street railway. But the pro-
moters had faith, not only that the town would develop the need, but
that the charter then being tossed and kicked about the chambers, would
one day be an exceedingly valuable franchise. So they endured the
wicked jibes, pushed it through to approval, and bided their time.
In 1871 Col. L. C. Ellsworth came from Chicago with a party of
wealthy friends, who purchased the charter and built two miles of road,
completing the same December 12th of that year.
The original corporators were Wilson Stinson, D. J. Martin, Lewis
N. Tappan, Edward C. Strode, Robert M. Clark, Alfred H. Miles,
Moses Hallett, Luther Kountze, Amos Steck, Freeman B. Crocker,
C. H. McLaughlin, J. S. Waters and M. M. De Lano. The term of
existence of the charter was fixed at thirty-five years. The first Presi-
dent of the company was Amos Steck, with David A. Cheever as
Secretary. Moses Hallett succeeded Steck and held the office two
years.
8 II.
114 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
The first line was laid from the present terminus in West Denver
to Sixteenth Street, thence to Champa and out to Twenty-Seventh
Street. The North Denver branch was finished in 1873 ; the Broadway
line in 1874, and in 1876 the Larimer Street road was extended a mile
and a quarter to the northward. The Park Avenue line was opened
in 1874.
Early in April, 1871, Col. James Archer, with Charles Keep, Sec-
retary of the Holly Manufacturing Company of Lockport, New York,
appeared before the City Council and explained the details of the com-
paratively new system of distributing water in towns and cities for
domestic purposes and the extinguishment of fires. They proposed to
erect works in this city that would furnish three million gallons of water
daily. The Council appointed a committee of three to investigate, to
locate hydrants and confer with the Denver Water Company as to the
general and specific details of their proposition.
This committee suggested that the number of hydrants required for
present use would be about thirty, indicating where they ought to be
located. This number the Water Company increased to sixty by the
advice of Archer, who argued that they would be needed in the near
future. Suffice it to say, that the Water Company gave a contract to
Mr. Keep for the machinery, and the city entered into arrangements for
the water supply. At the expiration of twenty years it was to have the
option to purchase the entire system at its appraised value, or make a
new contract. Until that time it was to pay one hundred and fifty
dollars per annum for each public hydrant, the same to be used only for
the extinguishment of fires. Resident consumers were to be charged
the same rates then current in the city of St. Louis. No provision was
made for irrigation, and just then this was a matter of great importance,
for many lawns had been seeded, shrubbery and trees planted, and a
general movement for beautifying the city entered upon. There was no
other source of water supply, as the Platte Ditch was not available until
1872. Therefore, a great clamor arose among the people, not alone
because of their exclusion from this coveted privilege, but over the terms
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 115
of the contract. The cost became a matter of pubHc criticism and
general expostulation. Another of the major objections was to the
exclusive right granted the Denver Water Company, because it closed
out competition. Superficial analysis of the scheme indicated much
larger profits to the projectors than were warranted by the service
rendered and the capital invested. Many arguments were adduced to
show that water for all our requirements might be furnished by sinking
artesian wells, and b^ the multiplication of canals. The Council had
proceeded too hastily ; it had been hoodwinked or otherwise overcome
by the plausible Archer, and so on almost interminably, the whole tenor
of the objections illustrating the cautious conservatism of public opinion
in matters of public expenditures. While it was constantly hoped and
predicted that the village would expand into a great metropolis, the
people acted as if they seriously doubted such fruition.
Notwithstanding, Archer lost no time in consummating his plans.
The works were planted at the foot of Fifteenth Street near the Platte
River. The second week in January, everything being in readiness for
the trial of their efficiency, Archer invited to his sumptuously appointed
rooms on Larimer Street — then in the Sargent House — the Mayor and
City Council, with a liberal sprinkling of capitalists, prominent citizens
and representatives of the press, for a little preliminary conviviality.
Being one of the most hospitable and generous entertainers living, full
of good fellowship, yet always alive to the main point of his business
undertakings, wine flowed like the water he proposed to pour out upon
the streets, while the finest of Havana cigars were opened to lovers of
the fragrant weed. He was a connoisseur in both, never using an ordinary
quality of either. He was broadly bountiful in everything except his
business contracts, and while in these he adhered rigidly to the interests
of the capital he represented for its protection and profit, he was never
niggardly nor allowed trifles to stand between him and the ultimate
purpose in view. In most respects Col. Archer was a grand figure in
our affairs while he lived, and the city owes him much more of credit for
the part he took in public improvements than was readily accorded in
116 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
his lifetime. His wonderful energy and force conquered all things,
while his royal generosity and genial disposition, and above all his open-
handed charity, brought gladness to many hearts and homes.
Finally, his guests adjourned to the works to witness the trial and
inspect the machinery. On Fifteenth Street between Larimer and
Wazee, six hydrants were opened, hose attached to each and the ma-
chinery being put in motion, water was thrown to the height of some-
thing over one hundred feet, as required by the agreement.
The second contract bears date of February 6, 1872. In this the
company agrees to furnish the city of Denver water for fire purposes
during the two years next succeeding, on the following terms : The
Council was given authority to elect whether the hydrants should be
single or double, or a part might be single and the others double ; it was
to take and pay for at the uniform rate of seventy-five dollars per
hydrant, a number equal to one for each block of lots reached by the
distributing pipes, for the first fifteen miles laid. The actual cost of
putting In the hydrants to bs paid by the city, and to be its property
after the expiration of the contract.
This agreement was signed by Archer in behalf of the Water Com-
pany, and by John Harper, Mayor. The well, or reservoir, was located
about two hundred feet from the south bank of the Platte, and originally
sunk to a depth of thirteen feet, with a superficial area of seventeen by
sixteen feet square. Very soon, however, this source of supply was
found to be wholly inadequate to the increased demands of the rapidly
growing city, and the reservoir was enlarged. A few years later, as will
appear hereafter, an entirely new and colossal plant was erected at a
point on the Platte three miles above the city.
At various times during 1871 the subject of manufacturing sugar
from beet roots was seriously agitated. At length a public meeting was
held and addressed by Mr. H. D. Emery of the Illinois Prairie Farmer,
who gave a general history of this important industry from its inception
in foreign countries, its development there and upon American soil, and
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 117
showing that in every instance when properly established and directed,
highly satisfactory returns were derived.
The matter was brought before the legislature of 1872 and a bill
introduced, which provided in effect that the first corporation company,
person or persons who should within the limits of the Territory erect a
manufactory and refinery for the purpose of extracting sugar from beets,
at a cost of not less than fifty thousand dollars, having a capacity for
producing not less than two thousand pounds of sugar per day, and
which should manufacture from beets grown within the limits of Col-
orado, not less than two hundred barrels of good merchantable sugar,
should receive a bounty of ten thousand dollars from the Territorial
Treasury.
The Governor, and two Commissioners to be appointed by him,
were to investigate such works, pronounce upon the results attained,
and if in accordance with the requirements of the law, were to order a
warrant for the amount. Unfortunately the bill was defeated by one
vote, the opposition having little faith in the enterprise, and being
governed by the prevailing demand for economy, destroyed it. Thus to
save the paltry sum of ten thousand dollars they unwittingly robbed the
State of millions, for had this or some similar well-grounded project
looking to the establishment of a sugar manufactory been carried out at
that early day, it would have proved of almost immeasurable benefit to
the farmers, besides adding materially to the general wealth. There is
little room for doubt that under the bounty named in this measure,
together with the interest manifested by home capitalists, the prelim-
inary work of planting and culture of the proper kind of seeds would
have begun in that year, and in time developed a very prominent
industry.
In February, 1872, a meeting was held for the organization of a
company, at which Jacob F. L. Schirmer presided, Fred J. Stanton being
chosen Secretary. Col. Archer took a deep interest in the proposition
and addressed the meeting at length, showing that many analyses of the
sugar beets produced in Colorado gave quite extraordinary results.
118 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
While in Europe he had made a thorough examination of beet culture
and the manufacture of sugar, and was thoroughly convinced that the
soil of this Territory possessed qualities superior to that of any other
country for the cultivation of such esculent roots. There were immense
tracts of light, dry uplands, which were admirably suited to this purpose.
The value of the produce was not in the sugar alone ; the beets enriched
instead of depleting the soil, preparing it for wheat crops, and leaving a
large residue of gluten. All that was needed was an organization to
present the opportunity in its proper light. He claimed that success
would speedily double the value of land wherever the culture of the root
was possible. It was developed by the different speakers that Colorado
beets contained a larger per cent, of saccharine matter than those of
Germany, where the experiment had attained its most advanced
development.
As a result of this meeting, articles of incorporation, signed by Fred
Z. Salomon, Joseph E. Bates, Hiram P. Bennet, Martin N. Everett,
E. F. Hallack, Wellington G. Sprague, George C. Schleier, Phil.
Trounstine, James Archer, Charles W. Perry, L. K. Perrin, H. G. Bond,
Henry Crow, J. F. L. Schirmer and Peter Magnes, were filed with the
County Recorder. Books were opened, and a committee appointed to
solicit subscriptions to the stock of the company, secured thirty thousand
five hundred and fifty dollars. An assessment of one per cent, was
levied to defray the cost of procuring seeds, and to cover incidental
expenses. Beyond this, however, nothing of consequence was accom-
plished. The failure of this enterprise was little short of a public
calamity. Ten years later, possibly in less time, the Territory might
have supplied not only the home demand, but acquired a large export
trade. It would have given the ranchmen a market for a new crop that
would have been steadily remunerative. We have only to observe what
has been accomplished for California by Claus Spreckels within the past
few years to discover the value of beet sugar, and also what might have
been done had the initial movement begun in 1871-72 been pushed to
right conclusions. Colorado, instead of California, might now be
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 119
the chief center of production, and the market whence many States of
the Union would be drawing their suppHes.
From the records of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted
Masons, but more particularly from an address delivered by Grand
Master Henry M. Teller to a meeting of that body, held in October,
1 871, we gather some interesting details of the early history of the
Masonic Order in Colorado. On the 17th of October, i860, the Grand
Lodge of Kansas granted a charter to the brethren of Golden City to
form a lodge. June 5th, 1861, the Grand Lodge of Nebraska granted
charters to Rocky Mountain lodge of Gold Hill, in Boulder County,
and to Summit lodge of Parkville. In the year last mentioned, the
Grand Master of Kansas granted a dispensation to the brethren of
Nevada, Gilpin County, and in the fall they were given a charter. Prior
to the regular organization of lodges, however, the craft met occa-
sionally at some suitable place, related their experiences and formulated
plans for the future.
On the 2d of August, 1861, the representatives of the three char-
tered lodges met in Golden City to consider the expediency of organ-
izing the Grand Lodge of Colorado. As a result the Grand Lodge was
formed. John M. Chivington was elected Grand Master, Samuel M.
Robbins, Deputy Grand Master, and O. A. Whittemore, Grand Secre-
tary. After adopting a constitution and by-laws, the Grand Lodge was
closed, to meet in Denver December loth, 1861.
At the communication held on that date all the lodges were repre-
sented, when Nevada lodge surrendered the charter it had received
from Kansas and took a new one from the Grand Lodge of Colorado.
On the 19th of September, 1861, Grand Master Chivington granted a
dispensation to the brethren of Central City to open and form a lodge
to be known as Chivington lodge, and on the 24th of October granted a
dispensation to the brethren in Denver to form a lodge to be known as
Denver lodge.
At the communication of December loth both Chivington and
Denver lodges were chartered. Col. Chivington was re-elected Grand
120 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Master, Andrew Mason, De^Duty, and O. A. Whittemore, Grand Secre-
tary. At this time the membership of all the subordinate lodges was
sixty-two. Ten years later the membership had increased to eleven
hundred and twenty-one, and the number of lodges from three to fifteen.
The order has continued to advance in like ratio of progression from
that time to the present, and through the grand principles inculcated
has become one of the strong bulwarks of social order.
It is also interesting to note the primary stages of the growth of
Odd-Fellowship. F. J. Stanton, as Past Grand Sire, in an address to
the Grand Lodge in 1872, gave a rapid but breezy epitome of its
struggles to secure a foothold in the wilderness, from which we condense
the following particulars :
Pike's Peak lodge was instituted in i860, but the incongruous ele-
ments composing it soon wrought mischief and effected its dissolution.
Its charter was surrendered to the Grand Lodge of Kansas, whence it
came, and thus terminated the first attempt at organization. From 1861
to 1864 no lodge existed in Colorado, though the brethren held informal
meetings from time to time, so that the fraternal spirit was maintained
against the day when it should be needed for a successful movement,
that was ultimately brought about by the following incident.
An advertisement was inserted in the Black Hawk "Journal" for a
member of the order who held an unexpired withdrawal card from a
regularly instituted lodge. This brought a response from Mr. David
Ettien, of that place, stating that Herman H. Heiser, a recent addition
to the residents of Black Hawk, had such a card. "This," says Stanton,
"was the one thing needed, and the last stone in the fabric upon which
we reared the present beautiful structure in the Territory, August 13th,
1864. We received a charter, and John H. Jay was authorized by the
Grand Sire to institute the new lodge." Dr. Buckingham, Jay and
others set to work to build up the fraternity on an enduring basis.
Funds were needed for the purchase of regalia, but collecting sub-
scriptions was slow and tedious work, for money was by no means plen-
tiful. However, some progress was made through unremitting effort,
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 121
until all but sixty-seven dollars had been secured. Where to get this
balance they did not know, for the limit appeared to have been reached,
when some one suggested that Col. Chivington, then commanding the
military division of Colorado, being an Odd-Fellow, might be disposed
to lend some assistance. The committee, acting upon the hint, resolved
to beard the autocratic lion in his den. They marched slowly up the
stairs leading to headquarters, with a good deal of trepidation, spec-
ulating the while as to the kind of reception they were likely to meet
with.
On entering the august presence of the gigantic commander, hats
in hand, and with humble demeanor, Mr. Jay was put forward as
spokesman. It was a desperate chance, but one that must be taken ; so
with some hesitation and in a tremulous voice he told of their efforts to
institute Odd-Fellowship here, the disappointments they had en-
countered, and, at last, the difficulty in raising funds wherewith to pur-
chase regalia. Chivington quietly asked how much they lacked of com-
pleting the fund, and when informed instantly drew a check for the
amount, handed it to Mr. Jay, and with earnest wishes for the success
of their laudable mission, signified that the interview was ended.
Of course the committee was overjoyed, and thanking the donor
profusely, backed out of the door, plunged almost headlong down the
stairway, and hastened to the rest of the brethren who were anxiously
awaiting the issue.
Thus equipped for present needs, the lodge met. The first abiding
place was the old brick addition to the Commonwealth building, on the
west side, near the Larimer street bridge. For window curtains gunny
sacks that may have rendered service as wrappers for bacon or hams,
were used. The lodge room was lighted by candles stuck into the
necks of old bottles that may have contained whisky or beer before
they were cast aside. Such was the birthplace and such the conditions
of primitive Odd-Fellowship in Colorado.
J. H. Vandeventer was the first expounder of the laws of the order.
Though beset by numerous trials, the greatest of which was poverty,
122 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the craftsmen held together and wrought assiduously for its devel-
opment. In 1S65 Schuyler Colfax, then visiting friends in Denver,
instituted the degree of Rebekah, and by his kindly, cheering words
infused new life into the struggling organization.
Early in 1872 the leading Republican politicians resurrected the
long quiescent State movement, upon the anticipation that a new bill
for an enabling act would be presented to Congress. To overcome the
objection to the inadequacy of population, it was proposed to enlarge
the boundaries by adding a degree from Wyoming on the north, which
would take in the more populous section of that Territory. It was
argued that even with this acquisition Colorado would not be equal in
area to Texas or California, and it would obviate the necessity of main-
taining two Territorial governments. The balance of Wyoming was
to be disposed of by partitioning it off to the adjoining Territories.
It may be stated that neither of the Territories had been consulted as to
their desires in the matter, it being taken for granted that Colorado had
the power to do as it pleased, and as the others had very little influence
at court, resistance would be futile. .
The paramount consideration was to get our State admitted, even
though we had to pillage the rights and property of our neighbors to
accomplish it. Hitherto the popular judgment had been adverse to the
precipitate hastening of this vital issue. The chief element of opposition
had been among our own citizens, who resisted from good and sufficient
reasons. No amount of sophistry or special pleading could disguise the
paucity of numbers. But under the inspiration of the new era, the rapid
accession of population, the marked advances being made in all directions,
the multiplication of railways, the development of industrial activity, the
fact that in the mountains 'lay treasures for the building of an imposing
State ; that the hitherto treeless and verdureless plain was being trans-
formed into blossoming farms and gardens, a new impulse was given to
the hope that the same rate of growth would soon prepare us for the
responsibilities and the burdens of State government, and so inclined
the people to take a more fervent interest in the proposition. There
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 123
was no apprehension of a veto should the bill be passed. Chaffee's
influence had been increased. The mining interest was in better
condition than ever before, through the introduction of smelting works ;
immigrants were coming by thousands. Many of the anti-State leaders
had been converted. Still, after some months of agitating and scheming
there came a pause. Mr. ChafTee did not press his bill, owing probably
to his being advised of its futility. Congress was not favorable to the
admission of new States with less population than was required for a
member of Congress under the new apportionment.
In January, 1872, Mr. Chaffee, since he could not bring in the State,
resolved to strengthen his position as delegate. He caused to be intro-
duced in the House of Representatives a resolution authorizing the
Speaker to increase the number of the Committee on Territories by the
appointment of one Territorial Delegate thereto, who should have the
same rights and privileges in the committee as any other member. It
was referred to the Committee on Rules, which, through its Chairman,
Mr. Samuel J. Randall of Pennsylvania, soon after reported it back
modified to read that the said delegate in the committee should have
the same privileges as in the House.
After a spirited debate, Mr. Chaffee's resolution was adopted under
a call for the previous question, when the Speaker at once announced
the appointment of Mr. J. B. Chaffee as a member of the Committee on
Territories.
His next movement in behalf of admission, contemplated the entire
abolition of all the Territorial governments by the admission of such as
were prepared for the change, and by the merging of the others into the
States adjoining them, thus : The union of Dakota with Nebraska ; the
consolidation of Idaho and Montana ; Washington with Oregon ; Utah
with Nevada ; New Mexico and Arizona, and Wyoming with Colorado.
For reasons readily understood, it had to be abandoned.
In May, 1872, he introduced a bill from the committee to which he
had been appointed, — and by the way, Mr. Chaffee was the first delegate
from a Territory who was allowed that privilege, — to amend the incor-
124 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
poration acts of the Territories so as to give them the right to create
railway corporations. This right had been seriously questioned, some
of the members insisting that the amendment which prohibited the
Territorial legislatures from granting special charters, deprived them of
all right to create such corporations. This bill was in reality an amend-
ment to the Organic Act of Montana, authorizing .the legislative assem-
blies of the Territories of the United States by general incorporation
acts, to permit persons to associate together as bodies corporate for the
construction and operation of railways, wagon roads, ditches, etc., etc.
This act passed, and was approved June loth, 1872.
Not fully content with this, he introduced another bill which pro-
vided for a general Territorial railway law under the title of " a bill to
provide for the creation and regulation of railroad companies in the
Territories of the United States."
This measure was drawn with infinite care, embraced twenty sec-
tions, and covered all the details. The method of organizing was much
the same as that in existing laws on the subject, but provided that the
original certificate of incorporation should be filed with the Secretary of
the Interior; that shares of stock should be one hundred dollars each,
and that five dollars per share should be paid down at the time of sub-
scription to the same. One section granted the right of way over the
public lands two hundred feet in width, together with sufftcient land for
depots and other purposes, not to exceed forty acres for each ten miles
of road.
The general restrictions and provisions of the act incorporating the
Union Pacific were made applicable to the Territorial railways, and they
were required to make reports annually to the Secretary of the Interior.
Work was to be commenced within one year after filing the papers ; at
least ten miles of road-bed graded, and the entire road completed within
ten years. Another section prohibited the Issue of Territorial, county or
city bonds to any corporation, or the loaning of Its credit In any manner
to such corporation. This bill was not passed, and received but slight
consideration.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 125
Mr. Chaffee returnejcl from Washington in July, 1872, and received
a cordial welcome from his admiring constituents, who appreciated the
value of the service rendered them by his activity and ability. They
were rather proud of the important standing he had given to Colorado,
in common with all the Territories under the new rule of the House. It
was an unprecedented concession, granted no doubt in compliment to
Mr. Chaffee, rather than to the Territories, as he numbered among his
friends the members who controlled legislation.
The passage of the new mining law was a matter of supreme
interest to our people. This lay at the foundation of all progress.
Though not elastic enough to cover the complex changes brought about
by the discovery of mines in geological formations of which nothing was
known at that time, it has endured to the present date with but slight
amendment. Among the other useful measures secured was one that
provided for a reduction by treaty of the enormous reservation ceded to
the Ute Indians in the southwestern part of the Territory; another
opened the Fort Collins military reservation to pre-emption and settle-
ment and prepared the way for the location of the fine colony afterward
settled there. He secured right of way over the public domain for the
Denver & Rio Grande railway ; the cession of the old cemetery tract to
the city of Denver ; the adjustment of the long standing controversy
between the government and the settlers as to the titles to town sites
located upon mineral lands in the mountains, and many other concessions
which effected salutary changes. He also secured the appointment of
citizens of the Territories to the Federal offices therein, which materially
lessened the objection to the Territorial form of government.
He was re-elected in September, 1872, by a majority of thirteen
hundred and thirty-six over his opponent, Ex-Governor A. C. Hunt.
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER VI.
1872 — History of the great diamond swindle — universal excitement — how
THE plot was engineered THRILLING REPORTS OF WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES
GEMS WORTH MILLIONS DISCOVERY OF A MYSTERIOUS CITY DIAMOND STOCKS
IN SAN FRANCISCO GOVERNOR GILPIN'S LECTURE ON THE SUBJECT JEWELS BY
THE CART LOAD CLARENCE KING EXPOSES THE FRAUD — FOREIGN BRILLIANTS
PLANTED IN SUMMIT COUNTY, COLORADO WHERE AND HOW THEY WERE
OBTAINED INTENSE INDIGNATION PHIL ARNOLD PROPOSES TO OPEN COURT
WITH A HENRY RIFLE GAMBLERS AND GAMBLING.
Beginning in the month of May and running sporadically through
the summer of 1872, mysteriously whispered reports of a nature well
calculated to allure the unwary and to create widespread excitement,
were circulated throughout the West hinting at the discovery at some
point on the frontier, precisely where, was not revealed until after the
first rumors had taken effect, of large deposits of diamonds, rubies,
emeralds, sapphires and other valuable gems. When such tales are set
afloat upon the whispering winds, they instantly become open secrets
which, however apocryphal, thousands accept blindly and follow
wherever they may. lead. All reports of great discoveries, whether true
or fictitious, invariably have this element of attractiveness ; the point is
always in a wild region remote from existing settlements, and are
generally announced by the same process as was employed in this
instance.
Various localities were named without disclosing the true one. At
length it began to leak out that the jewels were to be found in North-
eastern Arizona. Indeed, all the signs pointed in that direction. As
already indicated, the original rumors were vague and shadowy, there-
fore extremely fascinating to the average intelligence. Large quantities
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 127
of diamonds and rubies were said to have been gathered in 1869, by
Maj. J. Cory French, agent for the Navajo Indians; that they were
scattered over the surface of the ground at points near the pueblos of
the Moquis, about three hundred miles from Santa Fe, and that the
fields were very extensive, covering an area of about forty miles
square.
When the public mind had been thoroughly inoculated, each indi-
vidual to whom the astounding secret had been imparted being sworn
to secrecy, a man named Phil. Arnold, whom nobody knew, appeared in
Laramie City, and while there caused himself to be "interviewed" by the
editor of the Laramie "Sentinel," in which statements were published
that electrified the country. As this constitutes the actual beginning of
one of the most interesting phases of Western history, and was literally
filled with startling surprises and phenomenal adventures, it is proper to
follow its ramifications through its brief but dazzling career.
In the published account, Arnold announced himself to be the
discoverer of wealth in precious stones which surpassed the wildest
extravagances of the Arabian tale of Aladdin and the wonderful lamp.
He declared that the diamond fields extended over a wide range of
country in New Mexico and along the northern border of Arizona.
Some three years previous he had been shown two large, rough dia-
monds by a Pimas Indian in Arizona, and by him had been guided to
the spot where they were found. Captain Slack, an old California
miner, accompanied him. They worked the mines for two years, keep-
ing the secret inviolate. Finally, two other Californians were informed
of the find, and united with them in the scheme. They had extracted
from their claim no less than two and a half million dollars worth of
precious stones, about half of which had been deposited in the vaults
of the Bank of California. This fabulous result was the work of but
thirty days in the mines, that were as rich as the world renowned
deposits of Golconda, which, according to Arnold, produced one hundred
and thirty million dollars worth of sparkling stones in six months' time.
He forgot to mention that Golconda was not a mine but a fortress,
128 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
where the diamonds produced in the Madras presidency were deposited
for safe keeping. He said the largest diamond taken out of the
Arizona mines weighed one hundred and eight carats, for which, though
uncut and unpolished, he had been offered ninety-six thousand dollars.
To establish his standing, and to verify his statements, this ingen-
ious fabricator proceeded to inform the editor of the " Sentinel," who
we may safely conclude was deeply absorbed in every detail of the
astounding revelation, — that he stood at the head of a company com-
posed of some of the wealthiest men in New York and San Francisco ;
the Rothschilds, Gen. McClellan, S. L. M. Barlow and other distin-
guished people had embarked their names and fortunes in the enterprise,
having first satisfied themselves of its genuineness. Stock to the amount
of two and a half millions had been issued and put upon the market,
where it rapidly sold at forty dollars per share. Three thousand acres
of land containing the gems had been surveyed and claimed as the prop-
erty of this aristocratic corporation. Thousands were going to the
fields, and they would soon be overrun by diamond hunters. To protect
the interests of his company, he had sent to the coast for a guard of one
hundred well-armed men who would pass through Denver, outfit in
Pueblo, and proceed thence to the mines by the most practicable route.
He indicated rather than stated, that the wonderful fields were on Flax
Creek in the San Luis Valley. He gave a glowing description of great
tracts of land literally glistening with diamonds in such marvelous
abundance they could be shoveled up. Doubtless other discoveries
would be made, possibly even richer than those claimed by him, for
there was an immense range of country which showed like indications.
The appearance of this thrilling narrative in print, was the signal
for its reproduction in thousands of newspapers all over the Union,
where it awakened the liveliest activity among all classes, but more
especially the drift which is ever ready to take up and pursue any pros-
pect that looks to the sudden acquisition of wealth. Multitudes plunged
headlong into the enterprise. Countless columns of marching men and
canvas-covered wagons poured out upon the plains through Kansas,
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 129
Colorado, Utah and New Mexico, into Arizona. Tlie leading journals
of the country blazed with accounts of marvelous discoveries ; diamond
stocks were eagerly grabbed up as soon as issued ; expeditions were
organizing on every hand. There was something so bewildering, so
entrancing about the reports and prospects, the contagion spread to all
classes. There was a wild rush of humanity, each endeavoring to out-
strip his neighbor in the race to get there first and capture the cream of
the harvest when diamonds could be gathered by the wagon load. This
prevailing frenzy seemed destined to exceed all precedent, even that of
the actual discovery of the richest gold mines ever known.
As a sort of supplement to the rumors instigated by Arnold and
Slack, a man named Moorehouse, gifted with extraordinary powers of
imagination, launched upon the breezes some amazing discoveries of his
own, which he declared had been made in an isolated region far remote
from any traveled highway, when he visited " a strange city, rivaling in
splendor the wildest visions of the Oriental dreamer, drunken with the
fumes of opium, or steeped in the languors of the lotus." One day, so
the story ran, while himself and two companions were ascending a mount-
ain in pursuit of game, they emerged from a thicket of chapparal into
a great city of ant hills or tumuli, covering many acres. The spectacle
was amazing beyond human conception. The whole insect city was
" corruscated with a blaze of precious stones throwing back the sunbeams
from ten thousand facets, over which myriads of inhabitants were hurry-
ing in their forays into the chapparal in search of food." They gathered
a bushel or so of rubies, sapphires and other gems which were subse-
quently given away to friends who held them as curiosities. Since they
cost nothing, the donors could afTord to be generous.
But this report, extravagant as it was, soon found a counterpart in
the recital of one of Dr. H. P. Swein of Santa Cruz, California, who
passed through Denver, en route to St. Louis, about the first of Sep-
tember, 1872. It was said that while in the latter city he exhibited a
large diamond, estimated to be worth more than three million dollars.
According to his veracious (?) account, it had been found by his son
9 II.
130 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
some years previous at the mouth of a gulch near Santa Cruz. At first
it was regarded as only a brilliant quartz crystal without special value,
but its true character had been demonstrated since the breaking out of
the Arizona diamond craze.
About this time two Californians published a card in some of the
Coast newspapers, sharply analyzing Arnold's interview in the Laramie
"Sentinel," and positively asserting that he, — Arnold, — had never set foot
in Arizona, that he was a liar and a swindler, etc., etc. But it produced
no effect. The dazzling story had taken too deep a hold on the popular
mind. It was too rich to be easily relinquished, — another illustration of
the fact that people love to be deluded, if the delusion be sufficiently
attractive to hold their attention, and at the same time strongly appeal
to their cupidity. Therefore, Arnold's admirers, who loved him for the
tales he told, stood manfully by him, and in confirmation of his veracity,
declared that Gen. George B. McClellan had been in close conference
with their idol at Laramie City, and would publish his confidence in the
diamond fields. It is needless to add that Gen. McClellan, though
identified to some extent with the New York and San Francisco Com-
pany, was not heard through the press on the subject.
As time sped on the agitation, to speak mildly, though it conveys
but a faint impression of the actual state of feeling, increased with the
continuous repetition of highly flavored statements. The Santa Fe
papers pronounced it the greatest excitement ever known in that
quarter of the globe. The editor of the " New Mexican," in com-
menting upon the discoveries, professed to have known for years that
rubies, sapphires, garnets, opals, etc., were common in the valleys west
of Santa Fe, but he had never so much as dreamed that the sparkling
white stones so abundant there were anything more than crystallized
quartz or silica. There was some reason for the credulity of the Santa
Fe people, from the fact that gems of various kinds, some of them very
beautiful, have always existed in the neighboring mountains, whence
for centuries fine specimens have been taken by -the Mexicans and
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 131
Pueblo Indians, brought into the town, cut, poHshed and set in
attractive gold jewelry.
In the regular course of events many persons turned up here and
there who were perfectly familiar with the fact that in the comparatively
unknown regions whence sprang the reported deposits of jewels there
were places where precious brilliants might be secured in unlimited
quantities. It .was related that the venerable trapper, Jim Bridger,
had informed various parties several years before that diamonds and
sapphires could be picked up on the gravel plains of Southern Colo-
rado and Northeastern Arizona. It is more than probable, however,
that Jim Bridger was about as familiar with the problems of Euclid as
with uncut diamonds and sapphires. But that made no difference ; the
story gained immediate confirmation by the association of his name
with it.
Again, it was related that somebody had somewhere seen in the
hands of an Apache Indian "a diamond an inch long and half as thick
as a man's thumb." J. H. Beadle, the somewhat celebrated corre-
spondent of the Cincinnati " Commercial," a brilliant writer who had
spent many years on the frontier, more especially in Utah, where he
produced the most complete and interesting expose of the Mormon
hierarchy ever written, sent to his paper the statement, which was wholly
true, that in some portions of New Mexico and Arizona the lands
abounded in beautiful curiosities, petrifactions, fossils, rubies — otherwise
finely colored garnets, agates and similar stones. The same have
also been found in many parts of Colorado.
In the latter part of August, 1872, when the frenzy was still
running high, but had not yet reached its climax, Mr. Wm. N. Byers
wrote : "As regards the tales set going, which have created a wide-
spread and popular excitement, we have good reason to believe that
the scheme was planned and projected in Denver a few months ago.
We have learned from an authority of unquestioned veracity that Gen.
Rosecrans, the veteran soldier, who it will be remembered stopped at
Charpiot's Hotel last winter, knew all the secrets of this discovery, and
132 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
was really here on a mission relating thereto. At that time only a few
persons in the United States had been intrusted with the secret, and
among them was an ex-Governor of Colorado and his next friend, a
well-known Denver physician, from whose lips the secret never issued
until since the publication of the facts in all the newspapers. During
last May, probably about the 20th, Messrs. Lent and Roberts, the prin-
cipals in the San Francisco scheme, were in secret consultation with
New York parties at the Sargent House in Denver, and subsequently
journeyed south as far as the boundary line between Colorado and New
Mexico. It was about this time, or a little later, that the uncut
diamonds which have lately been exhibited in San Francisco were
brought through Denver from the South.
"The expedition that is fitting out in San Francisco, and which it
is proposed to dispatch via Denver to explore this new Golconda thor-
oughly, will be likely to provoke hostilities with the Apaches, who
swarm like bees in the coimtry where the diamond drifts are supposed
to exist."
The epidemic extended to all classes. It was so strong and
sweeping few escaped its ravages. Even the Attorney General of the
United States, a Cabinet Minister, several Senators and Representatives
in Congress, an ex-Governor of Colorado, to say nothing of the
hundreds of others in high standing, were drawn into the whirlpool.
Neither argument nor incredulity, however emphatically expressed,
availed to check the tide. It rose in great billows, forcing its way
onv/ard with irresistible impetuosity. It seems inexplicable that it
should have prevailed from May to December without exposure by
some of the expert lapidaries of the country. While many tests were
made, the certificates from these sources almost invariably attested the
genuineness of the stones submitted for testing, which naturally aug-
mented the excitement and dissipated unbelief.
The furore was as strong in Colorado as elsewhere. Several
parties were organized to explore and prospect this wonderland so near
our own borders. The confidence inspired here was due in large degree
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 133
to the report of a reputable citizen, who announced tliat he had spent
some time in Arizona in 1854, and knew whereof he spoke. In that
year he visited Fort Defiance, a miHtary station situate about one
hundred and seventy-five miles west of Albuquerque, and even at that
early day the soldiers had knowledge of precious stones in that vicinity.
They made a practice of stealing away from the post at every oppor-
tunity and gathering them. They were traded off to the sutler for
whisky and other luxuries not in the regular army bills of fare. He
had seen many pounds of these stones at Fort Defiance, but they were
chiefly rubies and emeralds.
At length, the second week in September, the great California
expedition arrived in Denver. There were twenty robust, well-armed
fellows, headed by Mike Gray, formerly sheriff of Yuba County in that
State. They passed on to Pueblo, where their equipment for the long
journey was completed. Simultaneously with their appearance upon the
scene, there came to Denver an astonishing display of diamonds. While
such appearances and exhibits had for some time been frequent, at this
particular juncture they were conducted less secretively; indeed, the pos-
sessors opened and spread out their collections with a good deal of
ostentation, evincing a desire to attract the greatest possible attention.
Arnold himself had been here for some time, deepening the mystery
by affording occasional sly peeps at the handful of brilliants carried
about in his pockets. Some of these being tested by C. C. Houck and
A. B. Ingols, experts in jewels, were pronounced genuine, though none
of them were very large or valuable. Nevertheless, their verdict only
served to increase the furore. It gave confirmatory color to all the state-
ments made, established Arnold's reputation, and caused him to be a
marked and envied figure upon our streets. He did not say these
diamonds had been picked up in Arizona, nor did he deny it. He
simply permitted the witnesses to form their own conclusions from the
hints they had received. But he did assert that in the country men-
tioned, a man could find quarts of diamonds.
Then came another veracious pilgrim from the Southwest who anni-
134 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
hilated all doubts and set everybody crazy. A man named Crossland, a
resident of Chicago, who claimed to have just returned from the diamond
fields, exhibited a precious stone alleged to have been found in Arizona.
It vvras examined by our lapidaries and pronounced a genuine diamond,
worth, in the rough, about five thousand dollars. The reader may-
imagine the effect of this announcement, for it cannot be described.
The people, already wrought up to the highest pitch of feeling, were
inclined to emigrate en masse, when the judgment of the experts here
was confirmed some days later by a certificate from well-known jewel
cutters of Chicago to the same effect, and who estimated its value at
about eight thousand dollars.
In the same connection arose a new element of scarcely less exciting
a nature, owing much, however, to the manner and source of its dis-
closure. While outfitting in Pueblo, Mike Gray gave out the state-
ment that he had not come from California in search of diamonds, but
to take possession of one of the most astounding gold mines ever seen
by mortal eyes. He was following the lead of a Frenchman who affirmed
in the most solemn manner that he had visited a valley where gold in
nugget form could be gathered by the bushel. Three years previous, in
company with a party of Mexicans, this Frenchman had penetrated the
region where the treasure lay, when all but himself and two others were
slain by Apache Indians. A white woman who had been held in cap-
tivity for years by the Utes, knew exactly where the gold was to be
found, and used to gather it herself. But the Indians, apprehensive
that she might disclose the valuable secret, murdered her, and thus
destroyed the last dangerous possessor of it outside their own tribe.
Notwithstanding, this interesting Frenchman pledged his life to Gray and
his comrades, to be sacrificed in any manner they might elect if he failed
to guide them to this marvelous gold mine. What became of him has
not been related, but certain it is that Gray never found the mine.
Soon the locality of the wondrous diamond fields began to change.
It was given out that the modern Golconda was not in Arizona, neither
was it in New Mexico, but in the southwestern part of Colorado. There
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 135
was a mysterious coming and going of armed men who gave no sign, but
their sealed Hps and speaking eyes indicated that they were on the trail
and had possession of facts which could not be wrenched from them.
They were after diamonds and knew where to find them. Diamond
stocks to the amount of two and a half millions had been issued and
sold by the New York and San Francisco Diamond Company on the
strength of the published reports. But the only matter of surprise was
that the supply was so limited. Anything in the shape of stocks, well
advertised and put forth by the leaders on the Stock Board, found eager
purchasers. It was a period of extravagant speculation. Every one who
could, indulged in it. Immense fortunes were made by the operators,
while the common herd lost and went into liquidation when the crash
came. Among the rumors that intensified the stock jobbing was one
that a large lot of Arizona diamonds had been purchased in London ;
another that the New York and San Francisco Company were working
a large force of Central American negroes and Mexican peons and
taking out millions. Attorney General Williams was deluded into
writing an elaborate opinion respecting the rights of diamond miners on
the public lands. In November, 1872, Ex-Governor Gilpin, always an
enthusiast on Colorado, which he believed to be the seat and center of
the wealth of the world, and who never missed an opportunity to pro-
claim his faith, delivered a lecture to a large audience in the Denver
theater, tracing on a series of maps prepared for the occasion, the geolog-
ical formations of the continent from Alaska down by Frazier River
through Colorado to the City of. Mexico, and indicating to his auditors
the lines where lay the greatest deposits of precious metals and stones
that existed anywhere on the face of the globe. "Not," said he, "on
the Cordilleras, nor out upon the plains, but upon the great plateau
situate about equi-distant between them, is where the richest treasures
lie, where the incandescence of the country has moulded the carbon into
the sparkling gem in the Sierra La Plata of the San Juan country in the
Territory of Colorado." Having made his first discovery of mineral in
the Rocky Mountains of the San Juan, while plunging about in deep
136 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
snows after Navajo Indians, he was naturally partial to that section.
Anyhow, on this occasion he gave the world to understand that if dia-
monds and rubies really existed on this continent, they must inevitably
exist in greater quantities, be of larger dimensions, and shine more
lustrously in the San Juan country than elsewhere. He traced the
country, rich in bright metals and glittering gems, from the San Juan to
Mexico and South America, but the former region was bound to develop
more diamonds than any other locality in Christendom. He declared
the southern portion of our Territory to be prolific in the precious metals
and the "largest and purest diamonds."
Soon after there arrived in Denver, Captain John Moss, another
California miner, who evinced great enthusiasm while dwelling upon the
diamond fields from which he had recently emerged. He said, as if to
confirm the statements already made, that an ordinarily industrious man,
not necessarily "a rustler" who tore up the ground as he rushed over
the face of nature, but reasonably attentive to the business in hand,
might pick up five hundred to five thousand dollars worth daily. He
mentioned two men who realized thirty thousand dollars from two days'
washing. He had been with a man named Stanton when the latter
picked up a large ruby and was present with him in Santa Fe when an
expert sent out by Tiffany of New York, pronounced the ruby worth
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Human credulity seems to have no limit in periods of excitement
when instigated and kept aflame by forces such as were employed in
this affair. The fancy riots in visions of suddenly acquired wealth, with
no desire to be undeceived. Following is an incident that, when
published, bore external evidence at least, of sincerity, but its absurdity
is so manifest we can scarcely credit the writer with any deeper motive
than a desire to throw all the stupendous narratives of the time com-
pletely into the shade. Under date of December 3d, 1872, this writer,
who dates his letter at Fort Angelo, Colorado, said, "Our little com-
munity was thrown into a state of intense excitement by the arrival of
Dr. Wallens and party direct from the newly discovered diamond fields
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 137
in the San Juan country. They brought two gunny sacks full of rubies
and sapphires, with a considerable mixture of inferior emeralds,
amethysts and opals, and a camp kettle full of large diamonds of the
first water. Singular to relate, they thought nothing of the diamonds
compared with the inferior colored stones, thinking they must be
only large quartz crystals, but under the infallible tests applied to the
gems by Professor Brown, — late of Harvard, and now out on a meteoro-
logical visit to this post, it was proven beyond the possibility of cavil
that they were genuine and remarkably large diamonds. One immense
gem, weighing upward of seven hundred carats, as estimated by Pro-
fessor Brown, and having no serious flaws, was entirely destroyed by
the Professor yesterday afternoon. Wishing to make a spectrum
analysis, he placed it between the highly charged poles of a Bunsen
battery. The effect was startling, 'a vapor arose,' the diamond vanished
amid the most dazzling flashes of light, and a piece of pure carbon as
large as a biscuit remained in its place. That it zcas a diamond was
undoubtedl)- proven, but at what a terrible cost ! The value of a nation !
untold millions had disappeared from our gaze while we drew our breath ;
disappeared forever, and a piece of worthless charcoal occupied
its place."
According to this veracious (?) correspondent. Dr. Wallens, like all
contemporaries, possessed a theory concerning the origin of these gems.
Indeed, the very atmosphere of the Southwest was, so to speak, redolent
of theories, mixed wdth the odors of bad whisky and tinctured with
IVlexican onions. The man without a theory was without standing. It
seems a little remarkable, however, that not one of the many professors
and experts ever gave public utterance to a theory of the first impor-
tance, that had even half the reports of the quantity and size of the
precious stones said to have been gathered and collectable, been true,
the market value of diamonds, sapphires and rubies, ceasing to be
precious, owing to their abundance, would have dropped to the level of
garnets and agates. If they were to be had by the bushel and cart load,
and if an area of forty to one hundred square miles was literally strewm
138 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
and impregnated with them to unlcnown depths, it would have been
sheer waste of time and material to cut and polish them.
Wallens' theory took this rather original line of expression, that
the vast mesa or tableland lying between the Rocky Mountains and the
great Canon of the Colorado River in remote ages had been strewn
with precious stones, and that in succeeding ages the larger and more
weighty sunk by specific gravity, while the lighter ones remained at the
surface, so that to find the whoppers — the Kohinoors and the Orloffs,
excavation would be necessary. Again, such gems would be found in
the ant hill region, a barren, volcanic district, and he claimed further
that where the larger ants swarmed, there would be found the largest
diamonds at or near the surface, on the hypothesis, perhaps, that only
ants of robust proportions could manage to lug them out of the depths,
and having a taste for the beautiful, decorated their abodes with them.
Here ends the glittering tale. It was wholly impossible that a con-
summate, deliberately planned swindle of this magnitude could be long
sustained, and it is a matter of wonder that it endured so long, escaping
detection, and involving so many fair reputations in its coils. We can
easily imagine how the public was duped into giving some of the earlier
reports its fullest confidence, because the men who circulated them had
prepared their scheme with extraordinary shrewdness, and pushed it
with surprising ingenuity, as will appear in the sequel, but that no
crucial tests were applied to the bagsful of spinels, crystals, garnets, etc.,
conveyed to Denver, San Francisco, St. Louis, Chicago and New York,
and the fraud at once exposed, passes understanding. But even here
the adroit managers appear to have been singularly skillful in preventing
analysis, except of genuine diamonds and rubies, with which they were
well supplied.
One exposure followed another until the crash was complete, yet
the frenzy prevailed with constantly increasing intensity from May until
about the first of December, 1872. Clarence King, the eminent geol-
ogist, took occasion to make a cursory examination, which resulted in
the publication of his views in the San Francisco papers. The diamond
HISTORY OF' COLORADO. 139
syndicate, which had already put forth a large amount of stock, was
preparing to issue twelve millions additional to be sold in that city and
New York, when King's thunderbolt fell. No less than three of the
principal banks in San Francisco were large operators in the stock.
The social and moneyed influence behind the transaction was immense.
It was said that Arnold and Slack were paid something over half a
million dollars, which enabled them to carry their part of the scheme
with a high hand. These precious rascals who, prior to the events nar-
rated, had resided in Yuba County, California, where they were
engaged in hydraulic mining, having carefully matured their swindle,
went in the first instance to some of the great mining brokers of San
Francisco, among them Roberts, Harpending and Lent, to whom they
represented that they had discovered and located claims upon a
diamond field of fabulous richness, named their price for an interest,
fixed certain conditions, and at the same time exhibited specimens of
what the land contained. It was taken under advisement. An agent
of the syndicate was sent out to make an examination. As it was con-
ducted by Arnold and Slack, who had taken care to pave the way in
advance, the report was favorable. This settled the matter. A com-
pany was formed and stock issued. The crafty projectors being well
supplied with funds, started out to create an excitement. Their expe-
rience in the mining regions taught them the efficacy of enjoining silence
upon all to whom the momentous secret was whispered ; of cunningly
devised movements, vital hints dropped here and there in out of the
way places, behind doors and in locked rooms. Having the real gems
in their possession, they were exhibited to the chosen few in whom con-
fidence could be placed. They traveled about from place to place,
setting afloat vague reports that found their way into the press. Next,
when the ground had been well seeded, appeared the Arnold interview
in the Laramie " Sentinel," which sent the tidings broadcast.
The capital stock of the company was placed at ten millions, par value
one hundred dollars per share. As already intimated, large quantities of
this stock were sold at forty dollars per share. Gen. Geo. B. McClellan
140 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
and S. L. M. Barlow of New York, with many distinguished financiers
of the Atlantic and Pacific cities, were among the corporators and promo-
ters. But one of the most prominent Influences exerted, and which
probably more than any other served to float and sustain the stock and
deceive the public, was the early capture of Professor Henry Janin, an
expert renowned for his scientific attainments. Arnold informed Janin
that he had made two excursions to the diamond fields, securing In the
first a bag of precious stones valued at a million dollars, which had been
sealed and deposited in the Bank of California, and In the second a sack
of brilliants valued at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the latter
being then on deposit with the banking house of Duncan & Co. In New
York. On the strength of this statement Janin was taken to the res-
idence of TliTany, the famous jeweler, who told him, as he afterward
stated in the presence of Gen. McClellan, Barlow and others, that the
gems in Duncan's bank were worth at least one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars. This avowal disarmed Janln's mind of any suspicion
It might have entertained, though It does not appear that he Inspected
any of the alleged gems. It followed that he was easily persuaded to
make an examination of the fields. In company with Arnold and Slack.
These worthies, while appearing to afford Janin every opportunity for a
full and free Investigation, adroitly led him from place to place where
certain predetermined results were of course found. Having collected
a quantity of diamonds, rubies and sapphires, they whirled the Professor
out of the region to San Francisco, where his report was published, jus-
tifying the claims put forth, and concluding with the statement that he
considered any investment in the stock at forty dollars per share, or at
the rate of four millions for the entire property, a safe and attractive
one. He was paid a generous sum for his services and accorded the
privilege of buying some of the stock at ten dollars per share, which he
took and subsequently sold at forty dollars each, realizing something
over thirty thousand dollars' profit, but at the sacrifice of his reputation.
Other parties went to the fields, among them George D. Roberts,
who brought back undeniable evidence of their richness. But Henry
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 141
Janin's report was sufficient to send the stock up to still higher flights
than it had previously attained, had there been no other testimony.
The stones placed by Arnold in the Bank of California were exposed to
public view, which only added fresh fuel to the flame. They were of all
shapes and sizes, from bird seed to beans, and of various colors. For
reasons of their own the precise locality was undisclosed. Startling
rumors came at intervals to increase the infection. Prospecting parties
were sent first to one point, then to another, from whence remarkable
statements were received and published.
But let us proceed with Clarence King's expose. He stated that
his attention was first called to the alleged discoveries by the publication
of Janin's report. He had at that time three parties operating in Wyo-
ming and Colorado, from two of whom he received information concern-
ing the movements of the Arnold and Janin party. He knew they had
not gone to Arizona, and from Janin's report of the appearance of the
country, he readily located it. He went there because, whether good or
bad, it would be a blot on any geological survey not to have known of its
existence, and he had to do it in self defense. He reached the spot
November 2d, 1872. He then gave an account of his prospecting of
the ground and his failure to find anything except along the trail of
Arnold and Janin. After a thorough examination, he went to the Union
Pacific Railroad and proceeded to San Francisco, where he sought out
Janin and exposed the matter to him and the Diamond Company.
Then the great leaders began to unload their stocks and to seek
shelter from the storm which they knew could not be long delayed.
King convinced Janin of the duplicity of which he had been the victim.
In public the company refused to credit King's expose, and though
secretly convinced of its accuracy, to gain time to prepare for the inevi-
table catastrophe, they went through the form of sending out another
expedition, which was accompanied by King and Janin.
But instead of proceeding to Arizona, they were taken to Black
Butte Station on the Union Pacific Railroad, whence they were guided
to a point in Summit County, Colorado, eight miles from the Wyoming
142 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
boundary, and on one of the prominent geodetic lines of King's Geolog-
ical Survey. The alleged mines were situated at the northern base of a
pine-clad ridge that runs east and west, north of Brown's Hole, once a
noted rendezvous for the trappers and hunters of the American Fur
Company. Here it was discovered by careful search that the widely
heralded gems had been planted, in other words, the ground "salted"
with them. On parts of the high, smooth mesa, where the winds of ages
had swept them bare of verdure, Arnold and Slack had strewn the
barren places with foreign brilliants and inserted them in the ant hills,
and having set their bait went out into the world to spread the tidings
of their "wonderful discovery."
Information of when and how they obtained the rough gems was
some time later brought out in the courts of London. About the first
of September, 1872, a letter was received in New York from London,
stating that about twelve months previous two Americans came to the
ofifice of the writers who were brokers in precious stones, and asked to
see some diamonds and rubies. They were wholly unacquainted with
the gems they were seeking, but as they produced a letter of credit in
their favor to a large amount on a well-known London banking house,
the negotiations proceeded. After looking at the first lot of rough dia-
monds for which eight hundred pounds was asked, they desired to be
shown some larger ones, and some rubies, from which they selected
without reference to weight or quality, rough diamonds and rubies to the
value of fourteen hundred and ninety-five pounds, for which they paid
and departed. A few days later another selection was made, the total
purchases amounting to nearly three thousand pounds. The weight of
the largest diamonds was from seven to eight carats, which corresponded
to the weight of the largest genuine stones displayed by Arnold. These
men informed the broker that they had been contractors on the Union
Pacific Railway. In the spring of 1872, the same house sold to an
American gentleman, recommended to it by the parties mentioned above,
about eleven hundred carats of rough diamonds, mostly of an inferior
description.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 143
In December, 1874, a man named Rubery, who was associated with
Harpending, Arnold and Slack, in the arrangement of the scheme, began
an action for libel against the London "Times" for imputing to him
complicity in the diamond frauds so called. A. diamond merchant
named Leopold Keller, at 58 Hatton Garden, London, testified that on
the 7th of July, 1871, a clerk sold to a person named Buchanan rough
diamonds to the value of ^125, 12s. 6d. On the 12th of July a person
answering to the name of Buchanan, purchased rough diamonds and
rubies to the value of ^2,808, i8s. 6d. Later in July Buchanan and a
man called Arundell, called at the store at various times and made large
purchases of diamonds and rubies. The witness was shown photographs
of Slack and Arnold and he at once recognized them as Buchanan and
Arundell.
Samuel Barlow of New York, testified in the same suit that Har-
pending, Lent and Gen. Dodge, introduced themselves to him in Octo-
ber, 1 87 1, and stated that they were possessed of a secret of great
importance, which they afterward explained to be a newly discovered
diamond field in Summit County, Colorado. They then showed him a
traveling bag full of diamonds, rubies and other precious stones. He,
acting for Lent & Harpending, paid Arnold $100,000, which he
demanded in advance. Arnold told Dodge that the diamonds were
found in the Indian country ; that their arms were taken from them by
Capt. Jack's band of Utes, but that he (Arnold) spoke the Ute lan-
guage, and he made a treaty with Colorow and Jack, which would enable
them to return to and work the diamond fields. A vast amount of other
testimony was taken, but the foregoing is sufficient to establish the basis^
of the fraud.
When the explosion came, Arnold and Slack disappeared. They
did not leave the country, but prudently went into seclusion for a time.
Janin, the learned geologist, who until this blow fell upon him gave
promise of a brilliant career In his chosen profession, was utterly pros-
trated, while avalanches of denunciation swept over McClellan, Roberts,
Lent, Harpending, and the chief operators in the great company. But
144 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
it was said tliat Lent liad lost over four liundred tliousand by the
expose ; tliat Ralston, who afterward committed suicide, though not
impelled to the act by this cause, had lost two hundred and fifty
thousand and others from twenty to fifty thousand each. The two
"original discoverers" having nothing, not even reputations, to lose,
and having received large sums from the company, presumably enjoyed
their gains in retirement while waiting for the storm to "blow over."
But the enterprising head of the firm, whose fertile brain had con-
ceived and whose dexterous hands executed one of the most daring
swindles of the country, was not the kind of a man to let concealment,
like a worm in the bud, prey upon his colossal cheek. About the
middle of December he was heard from through a card addressed to
one of the San Francisco papers, — date and place of writing omitted, —
to this effect :
To The Diamond Company: — I see by the papers that Arnold and Slack are to be
prosecuted, and that eminent counsel has been employed. I have employed counsel
myself, — a good Henry rifle, — and I am likely to open my case any day on California
Street. There are several scalps I would like to string on a pole. I don't include
Janin, your expert. He is of no consequence; send him to China, where he will find
his equals in the e.xpert business. As you all are going into the newspapers, I'll take a
fling at it myself one of these days. I'm going to the fields on my own hook in the
spring, with fifty men, and will hold my hand against all the experts you can send
along. If I catch any of your kid-gloved gentry about there, I'll blow the stuffing out
of 'em. P. Arnold.
The great white heat of popular indignation fell not so scorch-
ingly upon the originators of the exciting drama, as upon those who, by
the eminence of their names and standing, had given countenance to it,
and by their stock jobbing deals defrauded hundreds of credulous
investors. Yet gambling is gambling, and he who participates in it is a
gamester, and as such must take his chances. Stock gambling is not
one whit more respectable than card playing, nor should any person
who engages in it be shielded by law or public opinion any more than
the faro dealer or poker player. I am unable to discover the justice of
a law which punishes a card player who fleeces a victim, while a stock
HISTORY OF COLORADO, 145
gambler who engineers a corner in sliares, wheat, pork or oil, and
thereby ruins thousands, is not only allowed to go free, but crowned a
very "Napoleon of Finance." Hence I was not among those who
symjDathized with the victims of the diamond frauds, who plunged into
the stock pool and lost their money. But upon the hundreds who were
deluded into leaving comfortable homes and remunerative occupations,
in many cases sacrificing all they possessed to obtain the means
wherewith to enter upon the pursuit of Phil Arnold's ignis fatuus, com-
miseration might have been worthily bestowed, for they, at least, were
honest.
To close the chapter, Phil Arnold died at his home in Eliza-
bethtown, Kentucky, in February, 1879. What became of his partner,
Slack, I am not informed.
146 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER VII.
1872 — Review of the year — murder of george bonacina by Theodore meiers
— capture, trial and execution of MEIERS — MURDER OF JOSIAH COPELAND
BY VAN HORN RIOTOUS ATTEMPTS TO LYNCH THE PRISONER HEROISM OF
SHERIFF COZENS LEGAL EXECUTIONS DOWN TO 1888 — THE FIRST ADMINISTRATION
OF GOVERNOR m'COOK APPOINTMENT OF GOVERNOR ELBERT ARRIVAL OF PRES-
IDENT GRANT m'COOK's SCHEME TO OUST ELBERT REMOVAL OF FEDERAL
OFFICERS— A GREAT POLITICAL UPHEAVAL DETAILS OF THE CONSPIRACY
INVOLVEMENT OF D. H. MOFFAT, CHAFFEE AND ELBERT THE LAS ANIMAS LAND
GRANT.
The year 1872 had been reasonably prosperous. The volume of
general trade at Denver, estimated by the crude and informal processes
of gathering data then employed, was placed at $21,241,980, about forty
percent, in excess of 1871. In the line of improvements the records
indicated that 1,497 buildings and additions had been erected, at a cost
of $3,722,000. The taxable, otherwise the assessed valuation of prop-
erty in the Territory, aggregated in round numbers $31,000,000, an
increase of nearly eight millions over the preceding year. The products
of agriculture, the mines, the cattle industry, manufactures, etc., were
estimated at $14,250,000. On all sides gratifying progress was shown,
more especially, however, in the several departments of productive
industry. The public finances were in excellent condition. There was
no debt, and the treasury held a satisfactory balance over the gross
expenditures, without any tax levy for 1872. In the field of agriculture
almost phenomenal development was exhibited, both in the areas culti-
vated and the harvests secured, the value of the several crops being
estimated at $4,000,000. Great advances marked the efforts of stock-
growers in the breeding of fine cattle and sheep. Six railways had been
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 147
constructed, with a total mileage of six hundred and forty-two miles.
Some extraordinary results accrued from the development of mining,
though the more productive sections were still confined to Gilpin, Clear
Creek, Boulder and Park Counties, but in these unwonted activity pre-
vailed, owing to the increased facilities for economical working, the
better regulation of titles to property by the act of Congress of that
year, and the higher prices paid for ores by the Boston & Colorado
Smelting Company. A number of new coal mines had been opened and
the markets for fuel widely extended.
On the loth of August, 1871, an atrocious murder was committed
at a ranch twelve miles south of Denver. The circumstances were such
as to give it greater historical importance than it actually deserved,
hence its introduction here. A man named George Bonacina, with a
reputed sister named Arabella Newton, who was widely assumed to be
his mistress, occupied the ranch and cultivated it. On the second of
August-, a German laborer named Theodore Meiers applied for employ-
ment as a farm hand, and was engaged. Neither Bonacina nor Mrs;
Newton bore untarnished reputations for integrity and virtue. Meiers
had saved a small sum of money. On Sunday, the 6th, Bonacina being
short of funds, borrowed twenty-five dollars from his employe and came
to Denver for Mrs. Newton, who had been making a short visit in this
city. On their return to the ranch, employer and employe armed them-
selves and went out to sleep in some strawstacks near the house, as Bona-
cina had been informed that some of his neighbors with whom he had
quarreled, intended to burn them. Meiers took with him a shot gun
and a revolver. During the evening he asked his employer for the
money he had loaned him. Angry words were exchanged, resulting in
a fierce altercation, in which Meiers shot and killed Bonacina with a
revolver. He then went to the cabin with the design of removing Mrs.
Newton in like manner. In his confession made after his arrest, he
distinctly stated that he went there to kill her. Answering his boisterous
calls, she opened the door, when he fired from his gun a charge of
buckshot into her breast. Though severely wounded, she was not killed.
148 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
as the assassin supposed and hoped. Meiers returned to the straw-
stacks, rolled the body of his first victim in buffalo robes, covered it
with sheaves of straw, then laid down beside the corpse and slept, as
upon a righteous and wholly commendable deed well executed. At day-
break, fearing discovery and arrest, he fled, going southward toward
Pueblo.
In the meantime Mrs. Newton came to Denver and rendered an
account of the murder to the authorities. The physician who dressed
her wounds discovered that the entire charge of buckshot had entered
her breast, four of the missiles passing entirely through her body.
Sheriff D. J. Cook being apprised of the crime, summoned his chief
deputy, Frank Smith, proceeded to the ranch and found matters to have
occurred as related. After a short search Cook discovered the assassin's
trail and followed it to a place known as "Woodbury's," twenty-five
miles north of Pueblo, where Meiers was captured without serious
difficulty. On the return journey the murderer related to Cook all the
'circumstances of the killing. He was tried before Judge E. T. Wells,
in February, 1872, and convicted of premeditated murder. A motion
for a new trial was made and granted, and the time fixed for the April
term of that year, but the cause was continued by agreement of counsel
to October 21st following, when it was again heard and a second ver-
dict like the first returned. On the 30th of December, Judge Wells
pronounced sentence of death upon Meiers, the execution to take place
on the 24th of January, 1873.
The counsel for the accused put forth extraordinary efforts for a
supersedeas, appealing to each of the three judges of the Supreme
Court in turn, but without receiving the slightest encouragement.
Next, some of the prominent Germans of Denver who felt that their
countryman was being needlessly sacrificed because he happened to be
poor and friendless, signed a petition to the acting Governor praying
for a commutation of the sentence to imprisonment for life. Governor
McCook being absent, the petition was presented to me with strong oral
arguments in behalf of the doomed man. I listened to them attentively,
HISTORY OF COLORADO. U9
but at the close stated my convictions that the decrees of the courts
when fairly reached should not be set aside by the Executive, unless
some palpable error could be shown in rendering- judgment, or new
evidence adduced not given in the trial and which if produced, would
effect a material change in the verdict. If they had such evidence it
should be presented to Judge Wells, from whom a note stating that
upon further consideration he had discovered sufficient cause for a
rehearing, would immediately be followed bj- a respite for such time as
might be suggested. An attempt was made, but nothing came of it.
The next step taken by the petitioners was to telegraph Governor
McCook as follows :
"Can you respite b}^ telegraph, Theodore Meiers, to be hanged Friday, the 24th
instant, for thirty days, so that a petition signed by over three hundred citizens for
commutation of sentence to imprisonment for Ufe, may reach you ?"
On the 24th at 8 o'clock in the morning came this reply :
"Mr. Frank Hall is acting Governor in my absence. If he is not in the Territory,
take this to Thompson (Major J. B. Thompson, his private secretary), and let him
make out a reprieve for thirty days, acting in my name.
" [Signed] Edward M. McCook."
The receipt of this dispatch inspired the hope that since the Gov-
ernor had expressed his assent, I would accede to their demand for a
respite, if not for a commutation of the sentence. At 9 o'clock on the
morning of the fatal day, as I passed down Larimer Street toward my
office in the Good Block, the telegram quoted was handed to me, and
soon after the committee of Germans who had presented the petition
in the first instance, appeared and made still more urgent entreaties for
clemency, dwelling at some length upon the expressions of assent given
by the Governor in his dispatch. It had been made a rule of the Exec-
utive office to refrain from interference with the Courts in criminal
causes, except upon petitions indorsed by the presiding judge and pros-
ecuting attorney, expressing doubts of guilt, or requesting the exercise of
clemency for good and sufficient reason. It was held that the laws were
150 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
made to be enforced, courts established to make full investigation of all
cases brought before them, and that their judgments should be final ;
that when it appeared of record that a full and impartial trial had been
given and the result showed that the offender should be punished as the
law directs, neither the Executive nor any other power should interpose
to nullify or change such action. The committee were so informed and
their request denied, until it could be established, as alleged by his coun-
sel, that grave errors had been committed. Judge Harrison, chief
counsel for the prisoner, had been indefatigable in his attempts to obtain
some modification of the stern decree, but in vain. Not one of the
judges, after careful examination, could discover any material fault in
the record. As a last resort he claimed to have discovered " that the
statute as enacted by the legislature had been mutilated in printing," but
investigation of the original bills proved the contrary. The principal
lawyers and business men of the city were then importuned to visit my
ofifice and plead for a respite. Scores came, but I felt then as I do now,
that they should never have been persuaded to undertake a mission of
that nature, knowing it to be wrong.
Great excitement prevailed upon the streets, and it was reported
that the prisoner would be rescued from the sheriff on his way to the
scaffold, which induced Mr. Cook to take due precautions by calling out
the military for its prevention. Meiers was executed at the time
appointed. He maintained stoical coolness and indifference to the last.
He had never made any concealment of his crime, nor did he express
the least contrition. Two or three distinct confessions were made, cov-
ering all the details, both before and after the trial, and at the closing
hours of his life, Meiers was about the only person connected with the
case who maintained his mental equilibrium.
The first legal execution under the Territorial government was that
of a man named Van Horn, who was hanged at Central City, in Jan-
uary, 1864, for the murder of Josiah Copeland. After his arrest, an-
attempt was made by a large body of citizens, with whom Copeland had
been a general favorite, to lynch Van Horn, who had come to Gregory
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 151
Gulch a short time previous and settled down to the business of keeping
a whisky shop. He brought with him a woman who was not his wife.
Copeland occupied the position of chief clerk in the Massasoit House
in Central City, was young, handsome, sprightly and attractive. In the
course of events he and the woman mentioned became acquainted, and
one bright moonlight evening toward the last of October, 1863, they
strolled out together on the only reasonably level promenade in the
county, known as the " Casey Road." Van Horn concealed himself at
a convenient point, and when they appeared, sprang out, pistol in hand,
and began firing at Copeland. At the first shot his victim turned and
ran ; Van Horn followed and killed him, then sought refuge in flight.
He was pursued, captured, and lodged in jail. The citizens, apprehensive
that he might escape punishment by law, organized a movement to take
him from the sheriff when he should be brought out for preliminary
examination, which was to be held in the old Montana theater. When
the day arrived, hundreds came to witness the proceedings. The doors
were no sooner opened than the auditorium, gallery and every available
place was filled with miners and business men, the greater part fully
resolved upon having a lynching that afternoon. They had planned to
seize the prisoner as he was conducted from the court room, assuming
that the sheriff (Wm. Z. Cozens) would bring him down by the front
stairway, when, by a simultaneous rush, both could be overpowered. But
immediately after adjournment of court, Cozens, divining their intention,
spirited his prisoner out by a back door. The jail was only a few rods
distant, but Van Horn being ironed, hands and feet, could make only
slow progress, notwithstanding his alarm at the violent demonstrations
made in the street below when the ruse was discovered. But the sheriff
succeeded in distancing his pursuers and soon lodged his prisoner in jail.
The crowd which filled Eureka Street rushed forward and demanded the
keys. Cozens met them with a cocked revolver in each hand, returning
an emphatic refusal.
" Then we'll take him ! " yelled the leaders.
152 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Cozens instantly drew a line across the street with the toe of his
boot, and pointing to it, said :
'■I'll kill the first man who crosses it."
The dense mass was made up of all classes, the miners predom-
inating. Some of them were intoxicated and apparently disposed to
take desperate chances. The heroic sheriff stood firmly at his post,
unappalled by the boisterous clamor, — cool, collected, resolute. Every
one knew him to be a dead shot with rifle or revolver, a brave man and
a faithful officer. The leaders paused for an instant in silent admiration
of this magnificent spectacle of patriotic intrepidity. They respected
and admired him for the almost unexampled power he had maintained
for years over the most desperate of the criminal classes. He had been
sheriff and general regulator of public morals through all the trying
periods of the camp ; had passed through all the storms of turbulence
from the earliest days ; had conquered by the sheer force of his indom-
itable will every desperado and outlaw within his jurisdiction, many of
whom would not have surrendered to any other officer. There was that
in his flashing black eye and the expression of his clear-cut, immobile
features which warned offenders not to attempt resistance or trickery
with him. When he walked or rode up to such men with a command to
surrender, his bearing indicated that resistance would be useless. No
marksman upon the frontier could draw quicker or shoot more uner-
ringly than he, yet I believe he never shot a human being in the whole
course of his remarkable career. He never touched liquor, was an
athlete of splendid physique and muscular force. He stood as the
shield of the people against evil doers ; they relied upon him in every
emergency which demanded prompt action and unfaltering courage.
Such emergencies were frequent, but he never failed them. Intrusted
with the public safety, he preserved it to the best of his ability.
A saloon near by furnished unlimited whisky to the crowd. A
rope was obtained and a noose fixed, and a tree selected for the
lynching. The leaders vehemently exhorted and urged the swaying
masses to advance upon and overwhelm the sheriff, but under no cir-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 153
cumstances do him bodily injury. Thus inspired, they made a sudden
spring toward him, when up went his revolvers and then rang out a
sharp command to halt, with the reiterated warning, "There is the line.
I'll kill the first man that crosses it !" They approached, but did not
overstep the bounds prescribed, for no man was bold or drunk enough
to do so in the face of a decree which carried with it the death knell.
He ordered the crowd to disperse and retire to their homes. They
retired, but did not disperse. The wild excitement attending repeated
efforts to reach the prison continued all the afternoon and up to mid-
night. Multiform devices were proposed for seizing and abducting
Cozens, but all proved abortive. During the night the prisoner was
secretly taken to Denver and lodged in the jail of Arapahoe County, to
avoid further riotous scenes. In due time he was tried, convicted of
murder in the first degree and sentence of death pronounced. Having
maintained stolid indifference to his fate until within the last hour,
when the sheriff went to his cell to bring him out for execution, he
broke down completely and whined piteously for mercy. Cozens
procured a large glass full of whisky and, as he handed it to him,
implored him to brace up and die like a man, since die he must, and not
like a coward. The liquor gave him courage to straighten up and say,
"I will. Lead on, and you will see that I shall die like a man."
The entire populace turned out as if for a holiday, to witness the
awful proceedings. The prisoner was put in a wagon, supported on one
side by Cozens and on the other by United States Marshal A. C. Hunt,
and, followed by the multitude, passed down the Casey road to a point
near where the murder was committed and where frowned the scaffold
with its dangling instrument of death. He mounted the rude structure
briskly, and placed his feet firmly on the trap. There were no religious
or other ceremonies, no delays. A few minutes later the spirit of the
murderer passed to its Maker for final judgment.
This incident is recorded as the first legal execution that took place
under our Territorial statutes. The reasons which actuated the citizens
in their attempts to lynch Van Horn, grew out of the apprehension that
154 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the laws as administered were inadequate to the punishment of capital
crimes, and that no decrees save those of the people's courts to which
they had been accustomed and which permitted no guilty person to
escape, could be relied upon for the execution of justice. Though
twenty-six years have passed, the opinion has not changed. The people
simply acquiesce and hope for a better and a juster system of laws.
Two years later, on the 24th of May, 1866, Franklin Foster and
Henry Stone, both young men, one twenty and the other twenty-six
years of age, were publicly hanged in Denver for the murder of Isaac
H. Augustus and another named Sluman, near the old Junction House
on the Platte River, one hundred miles east of this city. Foster
confessed the crime and implicated Stone. The latte'r denied partici-
pating in this affair but admitted having killed four people in the States
prior to coming to Colorado. On this occasion the scaffold was erected
at the foot of the low bluff overlooking Cherry Creek near the southern
boundary of East Denver.
The third was that of Theodore Meiers. No further legal execu-
tions occurred in Northern Colorado between 1874 and 1888, when in
the latter year Andrew Green, a colored man, was hanged on Cherry
Creek just below Broadway bridge, for the murder of a street car driver.
With that horrible event passed away forever, let us hope, the right to
execute criminals in the presence of a multitude.
Resuming the order of political events in 1S72, it may be stated that
the administration of Governor McCook passed on without noteworthy
incident, our internal affairs being ordinarily tranquil, until it began to
be bruited about that a certain contract for supplying the Ute Indians
with cattle and sheep, as provided in the appropriation which had been
secured chiefly through the efforts of ex-Governor Hunt, and which it
was openly asserted induced McCook to seek the appointment for himself,
had been made an instrument for the perpetration of glaring frauds
upon the government. He came here, as repeatedly declared, and with
many expressions of virtuous indignation, for the express purpose of
investigating and exposing the mendacious operations of the " Indian
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 155
Ring," with 'a view to its utter destruction, both here and at Wash-
ington, its general headquarters. He admitted that this combination,
through long years of corrupting influences, had become stronger than
the government itself, and while it would be a formidable and hazardous
undertaking, he entertained strong hopes of success in his efforts to
produce its overthrow. Under these righteous impulses he entered
upon the rather perilous enterprise immediately, and as time passed,
claimed to have made some startling discoveries. As Superintendent
of Indian affairs, ex-officio, he had at his command all the books, papers,
official reports and documents of his predecessors, in short, everything
relating to the subject. Some of his acts in this connection awakened
public attention, not so much because of his engagement in a search for
irregularities, as in the unmistakable diversion of his movements from
the main object toward the rather striking sequel, which will appear as
we proceed.
Toward the close of his term of four years, so much adverse com-
ment had been passed upon his acts as to induce the circulation
throughout the Territory of a petition to the President remonstrating
against his reappointment, and requesting the selection of Samuel H.
Elbert in his stead. This paper was extensively signed, and together
Avith others relating to the subject, forwarded to President Grant. As a
result, McCook was set aside, and Elbert appointed. The new
appointee who had been absent during the later of these proceedings,
returned to Denver April 3d, 1873, ^'^^ rn^t at the depot by a large
delegation of citizens and warmly congratulated upon his elevation to the
gubernatorial chair. He was escorted to the residence of ex-Governor
Evans, where a reception was held, Hon. H. P. H. Bromwell delivering
the address of welcome.
Governor Elbert qualified and assumed the executive office April
17th, 1873. On the 26th President Grant, accompanied by his wife and
daughter, Gen. Harney of St. Louis, Gen. O. E. Babcock, his private
secretary, and Gen. Giles A. Smith, arrived, were received by the Gov-
ernor, Delegate Chaffee and others, and entertained by ex-Governor
156 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Evans. A day or two later they visited Central City ahd the gold
mines thereabouts, dined at the Teller House, and afterward took
carriages for Idaho Springs, the President being driven by William L.
Campbell. It was on this occasion that Campbell, or " Red Cloud,'' as
he was more familiarly called by his more ardent admirers, created so
favorable an impression upon the President as to cause his appointment
to the office of Surveyor General of the State some years later.
During his visit here Gen. Grant had abundant opportunities for
observing the condition of government in the Territory, and the general
sentiment respecting Elbert and his administration. He knew that the
appointment had been well received ; that Elbert had been identified
with public affairs since 1862, and that with the single exception of his
prominent association with, and his persistent advocacy of, the several
State movements, had created no serious antagonisms. As a lawyer he
stood high in the profession ; as a citizen he was universally esteemed.
The people believed that his administration would be just, impartial and
progressive.
While it was known that McCook felt deeply humiliated by his
summary dismissal, for it amounted to that, and secretly inclined to
resent it, his following was not strong enough, nor were his few admirers
so attached to him as to warrant the fear of a factional uprising in his
behalf. Nevertheless, on his departure for the East, he was reported
to have declared his ability and intention to overturn the existing gov-
ernment and come back to the Territory in due time as its executive
head.
He proceeded to Washington, established his residence there, and
arranged his plan of campaign for the future. Having been associated
with Grant's Western army in a number of battles in command of a
division of cavalry, it was not difficult for him to secure the adhesion of
some, at least, of his old comrades. His first step was to fortify himself
in the confidence and esteem of Gen. O. E. Babcock, then one of the
more influential of the President's attaches. Passing over the minor
details, it is sufficient evidence of the progress made, that on the 27th
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 157
of January, 1874, the President suddenly and without the shghtest
warning, sent to the Senate the following nominations :
Edward M. McCook to be Governor, John W. Jenkins of Virginia
to be Secretary, and T. B. Searight of Pennsylvania, to be Surveyor
General of Colorado, vice Elbert, Hall and Lessig removed. No
charges were preferred, no explanation given, or reasons advanced for
the change. It had been resolved upon without consulting any one
save McCook and his supporters. The blow fell upon Chaffee and his
friends like a thunderbolt from a cloudless sky. The names had
scarcely reached the Senate chamber before Chaffee was apprised of the
fact by his friends in that body. Though stricken with consternation
by the announcement, he instantly determined to fight the confirmations,
and if defeated to resign his office, return home, and institute a new
campaign in Colorado. His first act was to telegraph Governor Elbert.
On receipt of the dispatch the Governor sent it to me with the request
to call at his office, where many of the prominent men of the Republican
party had gathered for consultation respecting the course to be pursued
in this emergency. If the intelligence created widespread astonishment
here, as it certainly did, it was even more pronounced in its effect upon
Mr. Chaffee and his adherents in Washington, where his intimacy with
the President had been a subject of universal knowledge. He had
been one of Gen. Grant's warmest and most trusted friends; had
earnestly supported his nomination, election and administration ; had
rendered him conspicuous service on many occasions. Why, therefore,
he should thus have precipitated a bitter conflict was beyond compre-
hension. But without waiting or asking for an explanation, or
attempting to see the President, Chaffee strode into the Senate chamber
and began organizing his friends there against confirmation.
In Denver and throughout the Territory innumerable conjectures
were indulged. Without details for a rational conclusion as to the
cause of the removals, rumor took the place of fact. The people fairly
rioted in the variety of reasons which came from a thousand sources, but
the better informed at once recalled and repeated McCook's threat to
158 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
oust Elbert and supplant him. The excitement grew apace, stimulated
and kept aflame by a coterie of malcontents who, having nothing of the
loaves and fishes of federal patronage to hope for from the reigning
power, plunged gleefully into the turmoil under the impression that
their reward might come by accident if in no other way, as one of the
resulting consequences.
On the 28th a meeting was called at Guard Hall for the purpose
of giving expression to public sentiment upon this surprising event.
The town was in an uproar. As time passed the disinterested observer
found ample food for reflection by watching the numbers who were
attaching themselves to the cause of the rehabilitated leader. The
meeting had been called by the friends of the deposed Governor to
voice the popular indignation against his sudden and unwarranted
decapitation. While many of his friends were present, as the hall filled
it began to be manifest that the opposition was largely represented, and
there being no reason why its leaders should not give vent to their
opinions, they made bold to utter them from the platform. Some of
the speakers rejoiced over the great political upheaval which the mis-
guided President had somewhat rashly caused. The old State and anti-
State factionalism, for some time dormant, reappeared ; long buried
prejudices were revived. As a matter of fact, the tone and temper of
the gathering had been diverted from the primary object of the call to a
ratification of the change. Not that McCook was popular with any
class, nor that Elbert had given any offence to be avenged ; scarcely
one of the speakers rejoiced over his downfall, yet there was a coloring
of gratification that the dominating faction which they alleged had set
them aside, ignoring their claims and thwarting their political aspi-
rations, had been cast down. Elbert was not arraigned for any unjust
or unwise executive act, nor because of any objection to him as a man
and a citizen. For his excellencies of character he was universally
respected, but he was, nevertheless, by virtue of his office and his prom-
inence in affairs, and especially with the party, which from 1864 onward
had originated and prosecuted all the movements for the admission of
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 159
the Territory as a State, in some degree in opposition to the popular
will, made the leader of a new project to that end, and in the resultant
distribution of political favors, if successful, would necessarily exert
great influence. In a word, it was a contest of the "outs" against the
"ins," and' the reappointment of McCook seemed to open the way to
their advantage.
We have said there were no objections to any of Elbert's admin-
istrative acts, yet there was one which was now brought forward and
employed with telling effect against both Chaffee and himself, but
with much greater force in Washington than in Colorado, — the nomi-
nation of David H. Moffat to be Territorial Treasurer, to the council of
tne assembly then in session. As upon this act, insignificant and trifling
as it may appear, hinged all present and subsequent disorders which
filled that stirring epoch in our history, and became in due course a
vital factor in the proceedings which culminated in the abolition of
the Territorial government, and the creation of a powerful State in
1876, it is proper to give a rapid digest of the underlying impulses
whereby such momentous consequences were produced.
The carefully devised plot at the bottom of these developments
was not discovered immediately, but came to light some time after its
main purpose had been partially consummated. It was then discovered
that a small cabal had been formed by W. W. Lander, an able, shrewd
and wholly unscrupulous- politician, well known, — too well known in fact
— at the National capital, but a comparative stranger here, being out of
favor with the ruling powers, and sadly in need of a place, had under-
taken to make one for himself in Colorado by revolutionizing the
Denver postoffice. Observing his opportunity in the defection of Mc-
Cook and his allies, he took up the cause at this end of the line in co-op-
eration with the ex-Governor's scheme at the other. He began his con-
spiracy in the late autumn of 1873, through a series of furious assaults
upon Mr. H. P. Bennett, then postmaster at Denver, charging him with
flagrant mismanagement of his of^ce and culpable misdirection of the
mails. These attacks were published in a weeklj' newspaper called the
160 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
"Mirror," edited by Stanley G. Fowler, a brilliant writer and an expe-
rienced journalist, who had established his paper upon the basis of
superior literary merit. Lander presented his evidence of Bennett's
shortcomings and at length persuaded him to give it a highly sensa-
tional coloring, though in reality it had no substantial foundation. The
objective point in this case was to procure the removal of Bennett upon
manufactured allegations, and the appointment of David A. Cheever to
the place, with Lander himself as assistant and general manager. It
is but simple justice to state that Cheever was an honest, upright man,
and whatever his connection with Lander may have been, or with the
events which finally led to his appointment, he was in no sense a
willing conspirator, even while apparently lending himself for the time
being to a project which ultimately effected his ruin, for in the end his
rascally assistant reduced him to the verge of absolute destitution.
The most venomous fulminations against Bennett appeared in every
issue of the "Mirror," which, in the then convulsed state of public
feeling, produced some effect. A petition favoring Cheever's appoint-
ment was circulated and received a considerable number of signatures,
though by the majority the charges against the incumbent were rejected
as malicious misrepresentations. But something more than a petition
was deemed essential to the success of this daring enterprise, for post-
masters are not removed from office under such allegations without
investigation, and Lander knew that if he rested his cause wholly upon
an examination it would be a fatal mistake. The influence of the dom-
inant political power must also be undermined and broken if his bold
adventure were to have a fortunate issue. Therefore, almost simultane-
ously with his crusade upon Bennett, there appeared in the same paper
a surprising expose of an alleged gigantic land steal in the county of
Bent, in which the fair name and reputation of Mr. David H. Moffat
were involved. Having a desire to be informed of the facts in this case,
I, with others, set about a rigid examination of the statements pub-
lished, and having access to the land office at Pueblo, whose officers
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 161
were implicated, the following epitome was obtained and given to the
public in the Rocky Mountain "News:"
The Las Animas land grant ceded to Ceran St. Vrain and Cornelio
Vijil by the Mexican government in 1844, embraced a tract of something
over four million acres, lying in the fertile valleys of the Huerfano,
Apishapa, the Purgatoire and their tributaries. After the death of Vijil,.
St. Vrain, as manager of this vast estate, applied to the United States
government for confirmation of the title. At that time it was within the
jurisdiction of New Mexico. In the regular course of events the Sur-
veyor General of that Territory was authorized by Congress to make a
rigid examination ai all private land claims within his province, and
instructed to report the exact status of each. Among others, that of St.
Vrain & Vijil was reported, whereupon Congress confirmed to each
of said claimants eleven square leagues of land. This act was approved
June 2 1 St, i860, and provided that surveys should be made to cover aR
tracts occupied by actual settlers holding possession under titles or prom-
ises to settle given by St. Vrain & Vijil in the tracts claimed by them,
and after deducting the area of all such tracts from the area embraced in
the twenty-two square leagues, the remainder was to be located in two
equal tracts, each of square form, in any part of the land claimed by St
Vrain & Vijil, and it was made the duty of the Surveyor General imme
diately to make the surveys and locations authorized by the act.
It having been subsequently represented to the Commissioner of
the General Land Ofifice that St. Vrain & Vijil had disposed of more
land than they were entitled to under the grant of twenty-two square
leagues. Congress in February, i86g, passed a supplemental act for the
purpose of adjudicating the claims derived from the original grantors.
This act provided that the exterior lines of the twenty-two leagues, con
firmed subject to claims derived from them by actual settlers, should be
adjusted according to the lines of the public surveys as nearly as practi
cable, and the claims of settlers holding possession by virtue of deeds or
promises to settle, issued prior to the passage of the act, who should
establish their claims within one year from the date of approval, to the
162 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
satisfaction of the Register and Receiver of tlie proper land district,
should, in like manner, be adjusted according to the subdivisional lines
of survey, so as to include the land so settled upon and purchased, or in
other words, matters were to be so ordered as to protect the bona fide
rights of settlers first, and if anything remained it might go to the
grantors. But as they had conveyed their entire claim and many thou-
sand acres more than had been confirmed to them, there was no re-
mainder to be adjusted. However, the surveys were made and notice
given to derivative claimants to file and substantiate in the proper land
district, their claims within one year from the 25th of February, 1872.
Under such notification a number of claims were filed in the land ofifice
at Pueblo. Testimony in support thereof continued to accumulate
■during the year. About the middle of February, 1873, the Commissioner
'of the General Land Office notified the local land offioers that the time
for this class of claims would expire on the 25th of that month, and
instructed them to allow pre-emptions and homestead entries of all lands
lying within the original bounds of the St. Vrain & Vijil estate, not
covered by the rights of derivative claimants on file in their ofifice at that
time. The notice was published in the local papers and it was assumed
by the officers named, that the public had been thereby legally and fully
advised of the facts in the case.
On the 4th of March following, filings began to be made and entries
allowed as per instructions. The lands being open to entry, many per-
sons availed themselves of the opportunity. On the 25th of February,
1873, a notice was filed in the Pueblo land office, to the effect that one
D. W. Hughes would appear on that day and prove his right to certain
lands in townships 23 South Range 52 West, and 23 South Range 53
West. The day passed, but no proof was made. On the first day of
May following, Hughes' attorney appeared, withdrew the claim and
relinquished the land to the United States, whereupon it was treated as
public land, and various parties made entries upon the tract as well as
upon other portions of the Las Animas grant during that month. All
the papers were certified to and forwarded to the General Land Office
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 163
in Washington, and appearing to be all fair on their face, patents were
issued to the pre-emptors. Some thirty of these pre-emptions upon the
tract in question, each covering a quarter section, were approved and
ultimately patented. In the meantime a deed, supposed to have been
duly acknowledged by the pre-emptors, was placed on record in Bent
County, conveying the lands to certain parties named Perry and Harris,
and subsequently a deed from these two parties to David H. Moffat, Jr.
and Robert E. Carr (the latter President of the Kansas Pacific Railroad),
as trustees. Later, the town of West Las Animas was laid out and
organized by the railway company, which had built a branch from Kit
Carson to that point.
The extension of the railway and the preparations for the building
of a town, gave the tract a prominence and value previously unknown.
At once a number of parties who had asserted their intention to pre-
empt some of the land, claimed that they had been deterred therefrom
by representations of the land officene at Pueblo, to the effect that they
were covered by derivative claims. A great clamor arose, and charges
of deception and fraud were vociferously proclaimed. A rush was made
for the town site, and forcible possession taken. A combined effort to
nullify the patents was formed and the matter taken to the courts, with
what result will appear in the regular course.
With this hasty introduction we come back to Mr. Lander and his
machinations, with the observation that his evidence against Mr. Moffat
was wholly derived trom the statements of the more violent contestants,
some of which possessed a few grains of truth, but in the heat of passion
and smarting under what they believed to be an unmitigated outrage,
the greater part were highly colored, but just the material which he
required for use in striking at the heart of the controlling powers. The
several accounts were adroitly made up to serve the purpose in hand,
forwarded to Washington, and by McCook laid before the President as
conclusive testimony that Elbert, Chaffee and Moffat had been engaged
in a colossal scheme of piracy upon the public domain.
Meanwhile, with the material facts in my possession, I called upon
104 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Mr. Fowler at his sanctum and presented them to him. During the
interview it appeared that he had been fully persuaded of the accuracy
of the reports furnished him by Lander, and it was through Fowler that
the names and purposes of the conspirators were first made known to
me. By this time, also, it had become apparent to the editor, who seems
to have acted conscientiously in exposing what he believed to be a public
swindle, that the clique had been using him as a cat's-paw to further their
own ends. Therefore, the next issue of his paper repudiated the
association and thenceforth became one- of the staunchest advocates of
the old regime.
Lander then transferred his cause to the " Tribune," edited by Gen-
eral Champion Vaughn. In a confession published long afterward,
Vaughn stated that it was made clear to him from McCook himself that
the charges which had been published against Moffat, Chaffee and
Bennett were fully credited at the White House, and that Elbert had
been implicated in the alleged frauds by reason of his appointment of
Moffat as Territorial Treasurer. At all events, this was made to serve
as a motive for suspecting the entire administration, local and federal,
of collusion with a vast scheme of corruption, and eventually wrought
its downfall.
To all appearances, McCook had obtained complete ascendancy
over Grant in this matter. To establish the truth of their allegations
respecting the land steal, the President was induced to send out as
special commissioner, a man named Robinson, with instructions to make
an exhaustive examination of affairs at Las Animas. His report,
rendered a few weeks later, reflected with extreme severity upon the
manner in which the public lands involved had been entered and
disposed of, and inferentially, though not directly, inculpated Mr.
Moffat with the irregular entries. This report was the moving influ-
ence which provoked the famous contest between the President and Mr.
Chaffee, simply because the latter was made to appear as a sharer
through his partnership with Moffat, in the alleged nefarious tran-
sactions. It may as well be interpolated here as anywhere, that the Las
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 165
Animas lands mentioned were secured for the Kansas Pacific Railway
Company, and that Mr. Moffat had no further part in the transaction
than to act conjointly with Robert E. Carr, the president of the road, as
one of the trustees. The result of the judicial inquiry appears in the
succeeding chapter.
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER VIII.
1873-1874 — Installation of the new regime — exposure of m'cook's con-
tracts FOR SUPPLYING THE INDIANS— STRANGE APPROVAL OF A DIVORCE BILL
attempted REMOVAL OF TERRITORIAL OFFICERS — APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES
BRAZEE AND STONE — INDICTMENTS AND SUITS AGAINST MOFFAT, STANTON AND
COOK, AND THE RESULT ELBERT'S GREAT IRRIGATING CONVENTION PLAN FOR
RECLAIMING ARID LANDS m'cOOK'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION THE PRESIDENT
RECOMMENDS THE ADMISSION OF COLORADO INTRODUCTION OF BILLS TO THAT
END BLACK FRIDAY AND THE PANIC OF 1873 — EFFECT ON DENVER BANKS.
The nomination of McCook, Jenkins and Searight followed almost
immediately after the receipt of Robinson's report. Bennett was ousted
and succeeded by Cheever. Lander, while in Washington pushing
the nomination of Cheever, was the accredited correspondent of the
Denver "Tribune," sending letters and special dispatches of the most sen-
sational and mendacious character over the nom de plume of " Michael."
It took some time to get Bennett out and Cheever in, and he employed
the interval in spreading dissensions and working confusion through the
columns of that paper. Immediately after Cheever's confirmation, both
he and the new appointee left McCook to fight his battle as best he
could, taking the first train for Denver. The General, however, was
in no mood to tolerate such desertion, but as they were beyond his
reach, he peremptorily, by wire, summoned Vaughn to Washington to
act in their stead. Vaughn obeyed, after filling his place as editor with
another actor in the conspiracy. Under the substitute the paper abated
nothing of its former virulence against the deposed officers and all
others who acknowledged Chaffee's leadership. Its assaults upon their
private character and public acts had b.een from the first merciless, and
frequently indecent and brutal. It resorted to the blackest vituper-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 167
ation and published the most glaring falsehoods ; truth was wholly sacri-
ficed to mere sensationalism. Every issue blazed with fanciful headlines,
fictitious telegrams from the seat of war, and every form of abuse.
Meanwhile, Governor Elbert, MofTat and Lessig, with several other
representative Republicans, were collecting testimony regarding Mc-
Cook's manipulation of Indian beef and sheep contracts, and having
secured much racy evidence, they went down to Washington to rein-
force Mr. Chaffee in his combat before the Senate. They put the best
detectives in the country upon McCook's trail, and in due time, ferreted
out every detail of his cattle purchases and the payments therefor.
Notwithstanding the vast influence and power of the President over
Congress, and the natural reluctance of senators to antagonize this
power, Mr. Chaffee succeeded in gaining the support of nearly all the
Republican members and their pledges to stand by him. The potential
instrument in his hands, was the evidence relating to the contracts just
mentioned, and which will now be rapidly epitomized.
It was made to appear by these papers that on the 21st of August,
1S69, Governor McCook advertised for sealed proposals to furnish
seven hundred and fifty good American cows, with one bull for every
fifty cows, and three thousand five hundred ewes, with one ram for each
one hundred ewes ; said cattle and sheep to be delivered at the
Uncompahgre and White River Indian agencies, at any time between
October ist and November ist of that year. He was especially careful
to announce in the advertisement, and in his personal declarations also,
that no Texas cattle would be accepted. All must be of good American
breeds, that would stand rigid inspection. The basis for this action had
been laid in Ex-Governor Hunt's treaty with the Utes in 1S68, his
plan contemplating the location of the different tribes upon the reser-
vations allotted to them on White River, and in the Uncompahgre
country, with a view to their gradual civilization and engagement in the
pursuits of agriculture and stock raising, and thereby in the course of
time, under the wise counsels of the great Chief Ouray, become self-
supporting.
168 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
When the day arrived for opening the bids, McCook was at
Colorado City in company with one C. F. Holt, who proved to be the
successful bidder. The proposals were opened at the Executive
office in Denver, by his private secretary, but the result was not
announced until after the Governor's return on the 13th. In the list
were proposals by William Cole, H. P. Bennett for George M. Chilcott,
L. F. Bartels, C. F. Holt, Wilbur C. Lothrop, John Kerr and Lilley
and Coberly. As if by preconcerted arrangement, the contract was
awarded to C. F. Holt of Kent County, Michigan, at $45.75 per head
for cattle to be delivered at the Upper, or White River, Agency, and
$36.25 per head for those delivered at the Uncompahgre Agency.
Through inquiries prosecuted by the unsuccessful bidders, who left
no channel unsearched in justification of their suspicions of unfair
dealing, it was discovered that Holt was a distant relative of McCook's
by marriage, a person wholly without capital, but little known, and,
until a very recent date, a resident of Michigan, who, it was more than
suspected, had been imported for the occasion. It appears that he did
not purchase the cattle, but merely obeyed his instructions. The bond
for $50,000 was executed by a stranger, unknown to our people,
approved by the Governor, and transmitted to Washington.
The contract having been awarded, a herd described by those who
saw it, as "a very poor lot of scrawny Te.xas cattle,'' was delivered by
a dealer narned Stockton at Red River, New Mexico, and driven north-
ward toward the San Luis Valley. Holt remained at Colorado Springs
the entire time, and, so far as known, never saw the stock. It was
stated that McCook personally inspected the herd, riding by it in an
ambulance, near Fort Garland. While he had repeatedly declared that
no Te.xas cattle would be received, a number of witnesses testified from
personal observation that not a hoof of American cattle, except a few
worthless bulls, was to be found among them. Mr. John G. Lilley, at
present writing a member of the Board of County Commissioners for
Arapahoe County, saw them and testified that they were a poor lot of
Texas cattle. A personal interview with Mr. Lilley since this chapter
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 169
was begun, confirmed his testimony then given. The average value of
the animals was placed at ten to eleven dollars per head. It was ascer-
tained that the)' were purchased at an average of seven dollars and fifty
cents per head. The payments were made at Washington upon
vouchers presented to the department of Indian affairs by Wm. S.
Huntington, cashier of the First National Bank of that city, who
received November ist, 1S69, $16,638.75, and on December 2d fol-
lowing, $13,996.44, making a total of $30,635.19. The vouchers were
in Holt's name, but the money was. deposited to McCook's credit. Up
to that time none of the stock had been delivered at either agency.
The Governor kept an account at the First National in Washington,
and also at the First National in Denver, and simultaneously with the
payment of the vouchers, both accounts were materially increased.
According to the evidence submitted to the Senate, he paid $7.50
per head for the stock, and received from the government $30,635.19 —
net profit, $23,135.19. Deducting $800 which it was said he paid to
Holt for his services, the final profit was $22,335.19.
The stock was not delivered to the Indians until 1871, when it was
driven to them by U. M. Curtis, Indian interpreter, at the expense of
the government. The savages, fully alive to the cheat practiced upon
them, refused to accept the cattle. What became of the two years'
increase from the seven hundred and fifty cows, or of the sheep
advertised for, if the latter were furnished, has not been ascertained.
Such was a part, at least, of the testimony collated and brought
before the Senate for its consideration. Another incident of this some-
what sensational indictment came under my own personal observation.
The Territorial legislatures, prior to the act of Congress inhibiting
special legislation, were besieged at every session to adjust a large
number of marital infelicities by the passage of divorce bills, this
method of separation being a cheaper and in most instances a more
expeditious process than regular proceedings at law. At the session of
1870, two parties came here from an eastern State for the express
purpose of procuring divorces. The bills were passed and reached the
170 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Governor for his approval on the last day of the session. While several
bills of this nature received his signature, it appears that in one of the
causes under consideration there had been some sort of a private under-
standing between the principal and the Executive, which had not been
fully complied with. At any rate, whatever the reason, it was laid aside
unapproved, and in due course came to my office to be filed with other
unsigned measures. In September or October following, during my
absence from the Territory, the parties interested in these particular
divorce bills called at my office to. procure certified copies of them.
My clerk, Mr. W. H. Townsend, procured them from the files, when to
their astonishment it was discovered that only one had been approved.
Both supposing themselves legally separated had remarried, therefore
the one who had not been divorced at all found himself in a serious
dilemma. They departed, presumably for the Executive office. Mr.
Townsend, leaving the dead bill upon his desk, went into the United
States land ofifice adjoining, of which he also had charge in the tem-
porary absence of the Register, and was detained there about half
an hour. When he returned the bill lay where he left it, but
bearing the Governor's signature freshly written, and ante-dated to the
time of its passage by the legislature, six or seven months previous.
He was, naturally enough, astounded at the trick that had been practiced
upon him. He instantly wrote out a statement of the occurrence in
detail ; swore to it before a notary, and forwarded it to me. This af^-
davit accompanied the evidence taken in connection with the cattle pur-
chases, and other testimony laid before the Senate, and should alone
have been sufificient to cause the immediate rejection of McCook's nom-
ination, but it did not have that effect, as we shall discover.
About the middle of February, Jenkins and Searight were con-
firmed, but the fight on McCook continued with great bitterness until
the 19th of June, when it was brought to a favorable conclusion by the
following vote : Twenty-five Republicans and one Democrat voted nay ;
seventeen Democrats and ten Republicans voted aye. Thus, after a
struggle of more than five months, led by the delegate from the Terri-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 171
tory of Colorado against the President of the United States, backed by
the power of his exahed position, this unprecedented conflict came to an
end. The Democratic senators were actuated by the hope of destroying
the supremacy of RepubHcanism in Colorado, and its speedy admission
into the Union as a Democratic State, since a bill for an enabling act
had passed the House on the 8th of June by over two-thirds majority.
It was reported, and was probably true, that pending the trial in the
senate, McCook, apprehending defeat, offered to compromise on this
basis,- — if Chaffee would withdraw his opposition and allowjjtilie confirm-
ation to take place, he would write out his resignation ai^i place it in
Chaffee's hands. All he desired was a vindication through a favorable
vote, but Chaffee promptly refused to entertain it.
The newly appointed Secretary, Mr. Jenkins, a Virginia politician,
arrived in Denver, April 6th, 1874, and at once assumed charge of the
office. Removals of federal officeholders continued until a clean sweep
had been made of every one whose appointment had been made at the
request of Mr. Chaffee. Louis Dugal, a wounded soldier, Register of
the Land Office, was supplanted by Herman Silver of Ottawa, Illinois.
Keyes Danforth of Arkansas, was made Register of the Pueblo Land
Office, vice Irving W. Stanton, another faithful soldier removed ; J. L.
Mitchell displaced Charles A. Cook as Receiver of the same office.
Though all but Mitchell were good appointments, there was no sufficient
reason for the displacement of the incumbents, save the contest between
the President and Mr. Chaffee.
Louis Dugal emigrated to Colorado with the great procession of
gold seekers in i860, but returned east in 1862 and enlisted as a private
in the One Hundred and Forty-Sixth New York Regiment. At the
Battle of the Wilderness, May 5th, 1864, he was severely wounded, —
shot through the right lung and right arm ; his collar bone broken by a
bullet through the shoulder, and his right leg so shattered by another
ball as to necessitate its amputation. Left upon the field, he was taken
prisoner by the Confederates, by whose surgeons his leg was amputated
in defiance of his protest that the limb could be saved by proper treat-
172 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
ment. Seven days elapsed before his other wounds were dressed. Left
lying under a tree without other shelter from the sun and storms, he was
finally taken to Richmond and confined in Libby prison. September
1st, 1864, he was paroled, and on March 2d, 1865, received honorable
discharge from the Federal army, and soon afterward returned to Col-
orado. He was appointed Register of the Land Office in Denver during
the early part of Gen. Grant's first administration, and discharged his
duties ably and faithfully, giving no cause whatever for dismissal.
As one- of the events occurring in the Senate pending the confirm-
ation of MaBbok, it may be stated that the Committee on Territories to
whom the testimony heretofore related had been submitted, on the 7th
of Maj' reported the case in full, but by a majority vote it was re-com-
mitted. This act was regarded as being tantamount to indefinite post-
ponement, and therefore heralded throughout the city as a victory for
Chaffee, and a decided rebuff to the President. But it appears to have
been designed to afTord McCook an opportunity to withdraw, or for the
President to recall the nomination.
About the 12th of May, 1874, Mrs McCook died at the residence
of Gen. Morgan Smith, in Washington. She was a beautiful, brilliant
and fascinating woman, highly educated, a welcome guest in the first
circles of society by reason of her splendid attainments and rare conver-
sational powers. In her death, Gen. McCook lost the great potential
influence which had sustained and advanced his political aspirations.
When the grave closed over her remains, he began to sink far below the
position to which her beauty and wiser judgment had elevated him, and
to which he has not since been able to return.
Meanwhile, as already mentioned, Mr. Jenkins had assumed the
dual position of Secretary and acting Governor, and immediately began
co-operating with the McCook forces here and at the National Capital.
Among his other Territorial appointments, Governor Elbert had made
W. R. Thomas, then editor of the Rocky Mountain " News," Adjutant
General of militia. Jenkins attempted to oust all of Elbert's appointees,
beginning with the Adjutant General, not because there were any charges
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 173
against him or them, but manifestly in accordance witli a preconcerted
plan to fill all places of trust with McCook's adherents. Therefore, he
curtly advised Mr. Thomas of his removal. Thomas consulted the law,
and finding there no authority for the act, declined to vacate. He was
in possession of the arms, accoutrements, guns, pistols and archives of
the department, and proposed to hold them until legally displaced.
Gen. McCook arrived July 24th. The question concerning the right
to remove Territorial officers having been submitted by Gen. Thomas
to the Attorney General at Washington, for his opinion, that officer
replied that the Governor of a Territory could only remove such officers
as had been appointed by him to serve during his pleasure, but had no
power to remove such as had been appointed for fixed terms, or during
the pleasure of others, unless an organic law, or in some cases a Terri-
torial law, expressly empowered him to do so. Mr. Thomas having
established the precedent, and caring nothing for the office, on the 27th
of July sent in his resignation, to take effect October ist, 1874. In the
preceding chapter it is stated that Governor Elbert raised the storm
which brought about far reaching effects, by the appointment of Mr.
Moffat to be Territorial Treasurer. He at the same time nominated to
the Council Mr. Levin C. Charles, — a brother of Hon. J. O. Charles, — as
Territorial Auditor. On the nth of September, Governor McCook
issued an order removing both Moffat and Charles, naming George C.
Corning of Boulder for Treasurer, and Gen. R. A. Cameron of Greeley,
for Auditor. On the i 7th of that month Mr. Corning filed his official
bond with the Secretary, and on the 19th made a verbal demand upon
MolTat for the records, accounts and cash held by him, which was met
with a courteous but emphatic refusal. He then presented a demand in
writing as follows : "I do formally demand that you, without unnecessary
delay, deliver to me the books, files, papers and documents pertaining
to said office, and the seal thereof, and that you at the same time pay
over to me all public moneys that are now in your hands as late Terri-
torial Treasurer."
Again Mr. Moffat declined to surrender until he could do so with
174 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
safety to himself and bondsmen, and by authority of law. No charges
had been preferred, no cause for the removal assigned. The Treasurer,
like all others appointed by Elbert, stood upon the opinion rendered by
the Attorney General, — (written by the solicitor of the Treasury, and
indorsed by him) in response to the application of Adjutant General
Thomas, which determined the fact that the Governor possessed no
legal right to make such removals. Meanwhile, the Treasurers of the
several counties being in doubt as to which side was uppermost,
discreetly held the public funds collected by them subject to the final
outcome.
Financial affairs were further complicated by the action of Auditor
Charles, under the following circumstances. Nathan Thompson, Presi-
dent, and George C. Corning, Treasurer of the newly created State
University at Boulder, made application to Mr. Charles for a warrant
on the Territorial Treasurer for the sum of $15,000, the amount
appropriated by the legislature in aid of said institution. The application
was based upon an affidavit by Thompson and Corning that the con-
ditions under which the appropriation was made, — a subscription of a like
amount to the erection of a University building by the citizens of
Boulder, — had been complied with. Mr. Charles refused to issue the
warrant for several reasons, — want of legal evidence that the University
had been lawfully organized, and of the legality of the ofificers chosen, but
principally because the bond tendered by Corning did not comply with the
statute in such case made and provided. He could neither approve the
bond in its present form, nor draw the warrant until furnished with
more satisfactory evidence of compliance with all the legal requirements.
Toward the close of October it began to be intimated that Corning
would institute proceedings in the courts to obtain possession of the
Treasurer's office, but the matter went no further. Both Moffat and
Charles retained their offices to the end of the terms for which they had
been appointed.
Returning to Federal affairs once more, about the 14th of
February, 1875, Amos Steck, Receiver of the Denver Land Office, was
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 175
removed and Major Samuel T. Thomson appointed in his stead. As in
all the other cases, this act was wholly unwarranted, except that Steck
was not in accord with the McCook regime. He had conducted the
business with signal ability in the trial of many important cases, and
was popular with all classes, — a valuable officer by reason of his
unswerving probity, his thorough knowledge of the laws and regulations
relating to the public lands, and extreme affability to all the patrons of
the office.
Prior to this event, however, there had been a great deal of con-
tention over the judges of the Supreme Court. The McCook faction
desired a clean sweep of the existing judiciary, with the exception of
Judge Hallett, whom no influence that could be brought to bear would
induce General Grant to disturb, but the displacement of Judges E. T.
Wells and James B. Belford was persistently urged, while Chaffee insisted
as strenuously upon their retention. The President finding it impos-
sible to reconcile matters, determined to select two associate justices
from persons not connected with either faction, and non-residents of the
Territory. The term of Judge Wells was within a few weeks of expi-
ration, but Belford had been reappointed the previous winter. As a
consequence of the various contentions, A. W. Brazee of Lockport,
New York, an able lawyer and a gentleman of exalted character, who
had served four years in the army, and for some time as Assistant
Attorney for the Northern District of New York, was appointed to
succeed Wells, and Amherst W. Stone of Colorado, in the place of
Belford. On retiring from the bench at the expiration of his term,
Judge Wells formed a law partnership with Major E. L. Smith, which
continued until the election of the former to the Supreme Court of the
State in 1876.
It is now proper to return, after the necessary digression to other
channels, and trace to its conclusion the initial event of all the foregoing
disorders, which threatened to destroy Republican supremacy in the Ter-
ritory, namely — the connection of Mr. D. H. Moffat's name with alleged
land frauds in the county of Bent.
176 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Upon the charges which grew out of Robinson's report and others
brought by Lander, H. C. Alleman, U. S. District Attorney for Colo-
rado, a small man with rather extraordinary views of the dignity and im-
portance of the position to which he had been elevated, and with a still
more remarkahle paic/iaui for bringing actions«with an eye single to the
fees and emoluments derivable therefrom, and who was readily distin-
guishable from other attorneys from the fact of his always appearing in
court carrying a green bag, brought civil suits against Moffat and the
land officers at Pueblo, Messrs. Irving W. Stanton and Charles A.
Cook, and also procured their indictment for conspiracy to defraud, etc.
It was reported at the time that he produced no witnesses before the
grand jury to sustain his allegations ; nevertheless, the indictments were
found and the accused summoned before the December (1874) term of
the District Court at Pueblo, Judge Belford presiding. They appeared,
as directed, fully prepared to make answer, but after several ineffectual
attempts to have the cause called for trial, the District Attorney was
compelled to acknowledge that he could not sustain the indictments and
moved that proceedings under them be discontinued, notwithstanding
the well known circumstance that he had summoned more than twenty
witnesses to sustain the charges. Therefore, but one interpretation
could be given to the withdrawal, that the indictments had been pro-
cured for "revenue only.'' Belford's refusal to be a party to the trans-
action forced Alleman either to proceed to trial or dismiss the in-
dictments. It was this which impelled McCook, seconded by Alleman,
to urge upon the President the removal of Belford from the bench.
I have the highest authority for saying, that on a number of
occasions Mr. Moffat was approached by parties claiming to represent
the District Attorney, with propositions for a compromise. One of
these stipulated, or at least significantly suggested, that if within a
given time the sum of $15,000 was forthcoming, the suits would be
dropped. It is unnecessary to state that the proposal was rejected.
But the overtures were renewed from time to time, the sum demanded
m^\_^
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 177
being reduced on a descending scale until it got down to the price of a
pair of diamond ear-rings.
Col. E. P. Jacobson, a lawyer and politician of considerable prom-
inence, was appointed to assist in the prosecution of the civil suits.
They came up again in June, 1S75, at Pueblo, but were continued from
term to term until December, 1S76, when the causes having been trans-
ferred to the United States Court, the so-called indictments were
quashed and the defendants discharged from the obligations of their
recognizances. July 12th, 1878, the civil matters were heard by Judge
Dillon, who decided that the entries were fraudulent, but there was
nothing to show that the land officers were cognizant of their fraudulent
character, nor that they were parties to it. The main point of the
decision was, that as the patentees had no existence, in other words, that
the names used in the pre-emptions were fictitious, and as no grant or
deed could have any effect except there be a grantor capable of making
the conveyance, the patents were of no effect whatever, and could not
form the basis of any title in Moffat and Carr. This, in effect, canceled
all claims and opened the tract to public entry.
In view of the recent agitation on the subject of reservoirs for the
storage of water for irrigation, I am impelled to revert to the adminis-
tration of Governor Elbert, with whom the movement originated in
1873. Though the necessity for increased water supply had not then
attained the importance now accorded, it was made the subject of pro-
found study, hence came to be regarded by thinkers as the vital problem
in the settlement and development of the country west of the Missouri
River. In the interest of united endeavor, Elbert conceived the plan of
calling a convention of Governors and other representative men from all
the Western States and Territories to meet in Denver for the purpose
of taking steps looking to a widely extended system of irrigation, to
embrace the entire region where climatic precipitation of moisture was
insufficient for the growth of crops. The scheme was very generally
indorsed by the persons addressed, and the convention met in this city
October 15th, 1873.
178 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
The essential features of the movement, as presented in a well con-
sidered paper drawn by Governor Elbert, immediately commended
themselves to every delegate present. Governor R. A. Furnas of Ne-
braska was elected chairman of the convention. Delegates attended
from the chief agricultural counties of Colorado, from Kansas, Ne-
braska, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah, and were addressed by
Elbert, Max Clark of Greeley, Henry M. Teller, Judge Belford and
others. After lengthy deliberation, a memorial to Congress was pre-
pared, asking that there be granted to the Territories of New Mexico,
Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and Montana, and to the
State of Nevada, one-half of all the arid lands, not mineral, within their
respective boundaries, said lands or the proceeds thereof, to be devoted
to the construction of irrigating canals and reservoirs for the reclamation
of such lands ; that the construction and maintenance of such canals and
reservoirs be placed under the exclusive control and direction of the
several States and Territories as sole owners, and that the legislatures
be invested with power to make' all needful rules and regulations,
including the power to provide by law for issuing the bonds of the Ter-
ritory or State for the construction of said canals and reservoirs. A
plan for concerted action was agreed upon and an organization effected,
but owing to the political changes heretofore recited, no further con-
clusion was reached.
The promoters and chief actors in this convention of representative
men, thus early forecast the requirements of the future, if the arid
regions which they and their contemporaries had settled upon were to be
advanced from a state of primitive desolation to the higher plane of pop-
ulous and productive commonwealths. The theories and plans thus
formulated, were, with the exception of the proposed donations and leg-
islative control, substantially the same which, in 1SS9, by the aid of Con-
gress in providing for a thorough examination of the arid regions by a
corps of engineers, are calculated to bring about the establishment of a
great system of storage reservoirs, without which the limit of agricul-
tural development in all the Territories and States named must forever
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 179
be mainly confined to the comparatively small areas now available. The
proposal contained in the memorial of the convention for the donation
of one-half the barren lands reclaimed, has since been adopted by the
State of Colorado for the reclamation of large tracts of its own arid
lands. Many miles of irrigating ditches have been constructed in
various sections of the State by private capital, upon the terms named
above. This method has been, and will continue to be a source of
material wealth to the State. Without water the tracts were worthless.
Reclaimed upon the principle of equal division of lands and water, thou-
sands of acres of good tillable soil are rendered available for settlement.
But when Elbert called his convention, and even after its close,
there were only a few who thoroughly comprehended the magnitude of
the benefits derivable from the consummation of the projected enter-
prise. A few even went so far as to stigmatize it as a political scheme ;
others, with rare perspicacity, discovered a speculative venture, whereby
the promoters intended to secure the lands, and when watered, dispose
of them for their own personal benefit.
Constant assertion for more than a century of the bounty of a gov-
ernment that has Invited all the world to come and partake of Its
opulence of public lands, has been answered by so many millions of
industrious people from foreign countries who have come with the con-
viction that "Uncle Sam was rich enough to give them all a farm," has so
absorbed and covered and diminished the enormous areas which the
fathers held to be sufficient for all the discontented of other nations,
there is scarcely anything left to be ofYered, except the arid tracts of the
"Great American Desert." Hence, of late years it has been found
necessary to look to the waste places, and to devise measures for
bringing them under cultivation. As it cannot be accomplished by indi-
vidual effort, the nation is now doing substantially what Elbert's con-
vention of sixteen years ago declared ought to be done, but whose
suggestions, if not actually ridiculed as Utopian or worse, were never-
theless set aside, ignored and forgotten. Had the proposition been
promptly accepted b)- Congress, and the same measures which are now
180 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
being perfected set on foot in 1873, Colorado, to say nothing of the
other regions involved, would to-day have a population of a million
instead of less than half that number.
The second administration of Gen. McCook was worse than the
first. His intemperate habits and his virulent hostility to the men who
had been intimately associated with his predecessor; his persistent en-
deavors to remove Territorial officers and such of the Federal as were
not in hearty accord with his programme, kept the people in a state of
unrest, without adequate cause. Those who aided him to regain the
position, soon discovered that he had no rewards for them. His faculties
were constantly weakened and distorted by excessive indulgence in
stimulants, and his moral conduct caused public scandal. It was not
long before he stood wholly alone, isolated from the respect of good
citizens, and entirely shorn of political influence.
In his message to Congress December 3d, 1873, President Grant
recommended the passage of an act to enable the people of Colorado
to form a State government, urging that the Territory possessed all the
elements of prosperous agricultural and mineral wealth, and he believed,
had a population sufficient to justify such admission. In the same con-
nection he recommended the encouragement of a canal, for the purpose
of irrigation, from the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains to the
Missouri River. Though opposed to donating public lands for internal
improvements, owned and controlled by private corporations, in this
instance he would make an exception, because there was an arid belt of
public land from three to five hundred miles in width that was perfectly
valueless for the occupancy of man, for the want of sufficient rain to
insure the development of crops. The proposed irrigating canal would
make productive a belt of country as wide as the supply of water could
be made to spread over, and would secure a cordon of settlements con-
necting the present population of the mountain and mining regions with
that of the older States. All the land reclaimed would be clear gain, if
alternate sections were reclaimed by the government.
This valuable recommendation which, unfortunately for us, fell
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 181
upon unheeding ears, was incorporated in his message at the suggestion
of Governor Elbert, who sent the President a copy of his speech made
to the inter-State convention, together with the memorial adopted.
It may also be well to state that a company was actually formed in
1 8 73 to build a canal from the Canon of the Platte River to the Mis-
souri, with a capital stock of ten million dollars, but its operations pro-
ceeded no farther than the filing of its articles of incorporation.
The attention drawn to our admission as a State by the President's
message, soon revived the old frenzy for a constitution. Mr. Chaffee
wrote from Washington urging the advantages of both recommendations,
—the State and the canal, — and the importance of admission as a rem-
edy for political evils. This, be it remembered, was prior to the great
convulsion of January 27th, 1874.
During December two bills were introduced in the lower House,
one by Representative McKee, which included a degree from Wyoming,
and the other by Mr. Chaffee, retaining the existing boundaries. The
first was shelved in committee, the latter passed under circumstances
noted hereafter.
About the beginning of September, 1873, rumblings of an ap-
proaching financial panic began to be heard. When it came a few
weeks later, the great house of Jay Cooke & Co., followed by Fisk,
Hatch & Co., and many other prominent firms, went down. The im-
mediate cause was the awful and unprecedented crash of September
24th, known the world over as " Black Friday," an event that was
appropriately termed "a massacre in the midst of financial peace." In
August the banks of New York, according to the reports, held from
$150,000,000 to $300,000,000 of gold, which was quoted at 131. In
addition, the sub-treasury held upward of $80,000,000, which, it had
been given out, would not be put upon the market. Jay Gould and his
co-conspirators were well advised of the situation, and conducted their
operations with consummate skill. They bought cautiously here and
there, a few millions at advanced quotations. By the 2 2d of September,
they had obtained control of all the gold in the city except that held by
182 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the government, and had raised the price to 141. By Thursday, the
23d, they were prepared to spring their cunningly devised trap upon the
Gold Exchange. From an account published immediately after the
revelation of the principal details of this extraordinary transaction,
which plunged the entire country into financial chaos, bankrupted thou-
sands, and brought about an epoch of hard times extending over six
years, we find that the clique had loaned prior to the 24th (Friday),
immense sums at 138.
" The original plan was to make a sudden and peremptory call for the
return of the gold, then lock it up and force the bears to settle by buy-
ing in under the rule. The Tenth National Bank was to be used to
shift the immense sums, but the appearance of the bank examiner put a
stop to it. The next movement was to send gold up swiftly for the pur-
pose of frightening the bears into immediate settlement. As it was, the
bank officials agreed to certify to an unlimited extent, night and day.
On Thursday, 23d, it did certify checks amounting to twenty-five mil-
lions, and on Friday, notwithstanding the presence of the examiner, to
fourteen millions additional. All this time an army of holders in the
employ of Gould and his confederates, were buying up all the gold that
was offered and using their best efforts to drive the price up to 160, and
higher if possible. These efforts were more than successful. Gold
mounted to 160, and for an instant touched 165. This was a harvest
time for the clique, and while some of his agents were thus keeping up
the price by bowling bids for millions at 160, Gould was unloading
through a dozen different brokers at far lower figures, but yet at an
immense profit to himself. He had, however, pushed the price too far,
and when the news came that Secretary Boutwell would sell $4,000,000
of gold, the price fell even more suddenly than it had risen, and general
ruin and utter confusion fell upon Wall Street, to a certain extent
involving those who had been chiefly instrumental in producing it.
Down, down, went the falsely bolstered price. The day was the blackest
that ever set in Wall Street. Men knew not where they stood. The
confusion and madness were so great that it was supposed that all the
HISTORY OF COLORADO, 183
clique had gone down. Of the times that followed it is impossible to
give an idea. There was a run on the Tenth National Bank next day
and a million drawn out. The Gold Clearing House kept fourteen
millions inextricably locked up. The five hundred millions of clearings
demanded in one day of the bank dizzied its incapacity. Gould had not
yet done his work. When it became publicly known that only the
account of his firm was needed to finish the clearances for Black Friday,
and when upon that account fortunes were pending hourly, Gould tele-
graphed from his barracks at the Opera House, whither he had fled for
safety, and where he was guarded from the mob by the police, not to
send it down. The bank went into the hands of a receiver. Then
came a crash. Four firms were declared suspended. Then a rumor
came that Lockwood & Co., Vanderbilt's brokers, had gone under, the
strongest house on the street. The firm actually went down, but Van-
derbilt poured in millions and saved it. On Saturday, October ist,
Gould began his clearances, and not till then. The delay of the clique
in settling was accountable for the terrible wear and tear of the week
that followed ' Black Friday.' "
Few of the living generation that passed through or were stricken
by the fearful consequences of this monstrous crime, will ever forget the
appalling wreck and ruin created by a handful of intriguers, led by the
man who subsequently became the financial dictator of all the country
save the United States Treasury. That, thanks to the wisdom and
integrity of its managers, has never been touched by his blighting
hand, but is about the only institution which has not at one time or
another, or in some form, felt the effect of his Satanic power.
The foregoing epitome of Black Friday is given as a fitting prelude
to certain interesting incidents associated with the general crash that fol-
lowed. During the period mentioned, myself and wife were the guests
of Mr. Moffat, then cashier of the First National Bank, at his home situ-
ated on Lawrence Street, between Fifteenth and Sixteenth. When the
intelligence of the sweeping disasters throughout the country began to be
received, it was seen that sooner or later the banks of Denver would
184 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
probably be raided by alarmed depositors, and their managers knew they
were not then in a condition to withstand a heavy run. While each had
currency, enough in its vaults for all ordinary purposes of business, their
reserves were insufficient to meet all the demands of a sudden and
frenzied call. The newspapers were filled with dispatches from the sea-
board and from all parts of the Union, reciting the terrible effects of the
panic, of the failures of banks, commercial and manufacturing firms, that
were going down by scores and hundreds, of frantic runs upon all finan-
cial institutions, etc. A great many private telegrams from New York
indicating the magnitude of the disaster, were shown to me by Mr.
Moffat. While there was no such excitement here as prevailed in the
East, some large depositors were quietly withdrawing their funds from
the banks in anticipation of drafts that would exhaust their resources.
While Mr. Moffat realized the gravity of the situation, he manifested no
alarm, yet there was a feeling that public apprehension might at any
time cause a sudden and overwhelming rush that could not be withstood.
One evening after dark when the reports of the fearful storm were at
their worst, he explained to me the exact status of every bank in Den-
ver. While the First National held large quantities of gold and silver
bullion, it was of no more value in this emergency than so much pig iron.
Currency was what they needed, and must have at any reasonable sacri-
fice, and as every bank in the Union felt the same necessity, it was well
nigh impossible to procure sufficient paper money to cover their daily
needs. United States bonds of the most desirable issues were as so much
waste paper. But Luther Kountze had, at considerable sacrifice con-
verted enough of these securities into currency to carry the Colorado
National through, and Mr. Chaffee, then in New York, had done the
same for the First National. The currency thus provided was en route
to Denver by express, but the time between New York and Colorado
was five to six days, an eternity to those in momentary expectation of
an assault, and whose anxiety deepened with every passing hour. They
knew that accidents might occur to delay the precious consignments, and
in the nervous strain imagined a thousand causes of detention. At a
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 185
private consultation, Mr. Moffat, Mr. Kountze and others, after consid-
ering all contingencies, decided that if a plunge was made at either bank,
all would instantly close their doors, await the arrival of their funds, then
reopen and meet every demand as it should come. Said Mr. Moffat, " If
the associated press dispatches to the leading papers, relating to the effects
of the panic and the ruin wrought can be suppressed for a few days until
our currency arrives, there will be no financial distress in Denver. It
would save the city and Territory. If we are compelled to close, you
can readily see what the consequences will be." I agreed to visit the
newspaper offices and present the matter to them as he had given it to me,
and immediately started on the errand. The proposition to suppress
and destroy matter which is always most valuable to a public journal,
when advanced was met by Mr. Byers of the "News" and the manager
of the "Tribune," with this indignant inquiry : "Do you comprehend
the extent of the deception you ask us to perpetrate on the public ? to
suppress intelligence which every reader is most anxious to see ; keep
the people in ignorance for three or four days of the most striking
events in the history of the country ? We cannot do it, sir. It would be
fatal to us as publishers ; much can be done in a newspaper ofifice which
the public need not know, but telegrams of importance such as we are
receiving by columns hot from the great centers of information, cannot
be thrown into the waste basket and the secret hidden." I then entered
upon a full explanation of the case, the heroic effort the banks were
making to prevent a financial and commercial crash in Colorado, for if
it struck Denver its breakers would inevitably sweep over the Territory
causing widespread calamities, arguing that it was better to cut out the
more alarming dispatches for the reasons given, than by their publi-
cation bring a long procession of failures, from the effects of which
it would take years to recover. Colorado was not then in a condition
to endure even a temporary obstruction of established business. It was
weak and feeble, just entering upon systematic development after years
of depression. The sudden stoppage of needed supplies would have
plunged it back into confusion, entailing vast damage to every interest.
186 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
At length, after much argument, the editors assented to the proposal,
and the dispatches were set aside. The funds expected by the banks
arrived on time, a gigantic burden was lifted from the managers, and
they experienced feelings of hope and joy that now every obligation
could be met in full. This incident unquestionably saved Denver and
the Territory from many of the catastrophes which befell other cities
and States to the eastward.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 187
CHAPTER IX.
Hayden's geological surveys in the west — treaty with ute Indians — sur-
render OF the SAN JUAN MINING REGION MESSAGE OF CHIEF OURAY TO
GOVERNOR ELBERT BAKER's EXPEDITION AND HIS THRILLING ADVENTURES
LATER EXPLORATIONS FROM ARIZONA — SETTLEMENT OF THE SAN JUAN COUNTRY
IN 1872 FOUNDING OF LAKE CITY.
In our first volume, pages 454 and 468, brief reference was made
to the preliminary geological surveys of the Western Territories by
Prof. F. V. Hayden. Very extended examinations occurred in the suc-
ceeding years, resulting in the publication by the general government, of
several volumes of useful information, which led to the exploration and
development of many rich mineral-bearing sections until then wholly
unknown, or but crudely defined. The U. S. Geological Survey, now
so important a branch of government work, appears to have been
primarily established in the spring of 1867, and was the outgrowth of
the strong personal interest taken by delegate, — afterward Senator, —
Hitchcock of Nebraska, who secured the appropriation by Congress, of
the unexpended balance of about five thousand dollars of the appro-
priation for legislative expenses left over at the time of the admission of
that Territory into the Union, to aid in defraying the cost of a geo-
logical survey of Nebraska. The young and already eminent geologist,
Dr. F. V. Hayden, was made chief director under the act. During the
year 1867, a general examination of that Territory had been made, and
a report furnished the General Land office at Washington, which was
incorporated in its next ensuing report. In the spring of 1868,
Congress appropriated a like sum for continuing the survey, and
extending it into Wyoming. The year following, the amount was
188 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
doubled for the further extension of the investigations under the
direction of the Secretary of the Interior, to embrace Colorado and
New Mexico. The area was too great, however, for anything more than
a hasty observation of the chief points. Reports of all this work were
rendered, covering the meteorology, agriculture, zoology and palseon-
tology of this region and a large edition published, which, owing to the
great demand for copies, was soon exhausted. In 1870 the appro-
priation was increased to $25,000 and a more accurate examination of
Wyoming made by a corps of skilled assistants. In 1871 a careful
survey of the Yellowstone was undertaken, and an exceedingly in-
teresting account given of the geysers and other marvelous natural
features of that region, which excited the liveliest interest in Europe
and the United States, and induced Congress to appropriate the whole
area, comprising 3,575 square miles, as a National Park. Within a
few months from the date of its publication, this report, or much of it,
had been translated into German, and extracts were printed in many
languages. In the summer of 1872, the survey was extended further
into that Territory, organized into two corps, each provided with a
topographer, geologist, mineralogist, meteorologist and naturalist.
In the spring of 1873 the survey was reorganized by act of Con-
gress as the "United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the
Territories," with Mr. J. T. Gardner as geographer, when the operations
were extended to Idaho and Montana. In 1873, Colorado and Utah
were more fully investigated, and on its completion in 1876, an area of
about seventy thousand square miles had been included in the survey.
Said one who accompanied some of these expeditions, — "The scientific
results of major importance were the geological features of the reports,
the delineation of the boundaries of the cretaceous and tertiary seas
and lakes that occupied many of the great basins west of the Missouri,
and the very extensive collection of fossil vertebrates gathered from
them. Over an area of many hundred thousand square miles there
were found beds of great extent and thickness of all ages from the Trias
onward, containing the well preserved remains of so great a multitude
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 189
of flying, creeping and wallving things referable to so many orders of
plants and animals, and often of such gigantic proportions, that the
palaeontologists of the States with their immense museums, were over-
crowded with them."
The publication and wide distribution of Hayden's reports, though
many of his earlier conclusions have since been overturned or modified
by more minute examination in some of the States and Territories,
attracted universal attention among the scientific schools, and were in
active demand among the miners and prospectors of the regions treated.
They were placed in all the scientific libraries of America and Europe,
where Hayden was highly honored for his learning, the patience and
skill with which his explorations had been conducted, and the grand
results achieved in revealing the hidden wonders of this portion of the
American continent, which, until then, had been a sealed book to all
except the tireless miner and prospector ; and even to them, until he
came to their aid with the light of his deeper knowledge and pointed
the way to the more valuable secrets of nature.
In 1872, a government commission consisting of Hon. John D.
Long, Gen. John McDonald and Governor E. M. McCook, was
appointed, under a resolution of Congress introduced by Mr. Chaffee,
with instructions to negotiate a treaty with the Ute Indians for a
reduction of their immense reservation in the southwestern division of
the Territory, and covering the rich mineral-bearing section known
under the general term of the "San Juan country." This extensive
grant had been ceded to the Indians under a treaty negotiated by Ex-
Governor Hunt in 1868, and embraced an area nearly three hundred
miles long by two hundred in width, adjoining New Mexico on the
south and Utah on the west, a large portion mountainous, where a great
number of gold and silver mines had been found and located, and a
numerous white population established. The commissioners were
authorized to conclude the treaty, for the reason that, according to
representations, the rapid influx of miners must sooner or later produce
a conflict between the races, unless measures were taken to adjust the
190 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
relative rights of both upon the portion wherein valuable mines had
been discovered. The savages, knowing these men to be trespassers
upon their lands, opposed their incursions, yet under the advice of their
grand old Chief Ouray, who fully comprehended the nature of the case,
they were restrained from violent demonstrations. He realized that they
could have no use for the mountainous portion, except as a hunting
ground, and very little game ever made its way into those solitudes.
But the valleys they could cultivate, and these the miners did not covet.
The commission came to Denver, went south to Fort Garland and
thence to the Los Pinos agency beyond the San Juan Mountains. They
brought with them a large quantity of goods to be distributed as induce-
ments to favorable action. The terms proposed to the Indians were
unsatisfactory to them, and after a long time spent in endeavors to
overcome their objections, without effect, the councils terminated in
September with nothing accomplished.
On the 19th of September, 1873, Felix Brunot, chairman of the
Peace Commission, came out to exert his influence toward the con-
clusion of a treaty. Conferences had been going on for some time.
The council embraced delegations from the Capote, Muache, Winne-
muche, Tabeguache, White River and Uintah bands. At the outset
the Indians were averse to surrendering any portion of their reservation.
Ouray presided, on behalf of his people. Personally he expressed no
objection to yielding the mining region, but under no circumstances
would he give up the agricultural valleys. In due time, after much
argument and a distinct understanding of all the terms, the Indians
agreed to the cession, upon certain conditions, of all that portion from
the eastern line of the reservation to within a few miles of the San
Miguel River, covering a section sixty miles wide by seventy-five in
length, which included the principal mines. Even after this concession
there still remained to them 15,577,120 acres.
After the treaty had been executed and harmonious relations estab-
lished, Ouray dictated to Felix Brunot the following message to be
delivered to Governor Elbert at Denver, for whom he entertained high
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 191
regard, and with whom he had conversed freely upon matters relating to
his tribe. Said he :
" We want you should tell Governor Elbert and the people in the Territory, that we
are well pleased and perfectly satisfied with everything that has been done. Perhaps
some ot the people will not like it because we did not wish to sell our valley and
farming lands, but we think we had good reasons for not doing so. We e.xpect to
occupy them ourselves before long for farming and stock raising. About eighty of our
tribe are now raising corn and wheat, and we know not how soon we shall have to
depend on ourselves for our bread. We do not want to sell our valley and farming lands
for another reason. We know if we should the whites would go on them, build their
cabins and drive in their stock, which would of course stray upon our lands, and then
the whites themselves would crowd upon us till there would be trouble. We have
many friends among the people, and want to live at peace and on good terms with
them, and we feel that it would be better for all parties for a mountain range to be
between us. We are perfectly willing to sell our mountain lands, and hope the miners
will find heaps of gold and silver. We have no wish to molest or make them any
trouble. We do not want they should go down into our valleys, however, and kill or
scare away our game. We expect there will be much talk among the people and in the
papers, about what we have done, and we hope you will let the people know how we
feel about it. Truly your friend, Our.w."
To advise the people of the great chief's desires, and to give the
fullest expose of his reasons for acceding to the modified terms of the
treaty, the Governor published the letter. But the distinguished leader
of all the Ute nation, whose life and character, with an outline of the
service he rendered to our people on numberless occasions, we shall
present at the proper time, had no need of any further or more elab-
orate explanation of his acts. The people even thus early had learned
his worth, ability, honesty and broad enlightenment upon the relations
existing between his dusky warriors and the immigrants who were
absorbing the country. He said to the Governor on one occasion, in
substance : " I realize the ultimate destiny of my people. They will
be extirpated by the race that overruns, occupies and holds our hunting
grounds, and whose numbers and force, with the government and the
millions behind it, will in a few years remove the last trace of our blood
192 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
that remains. We shall fall as the leaves from the trees when the frosts
of winter come, and the lands which we have roamed over by countless
generations will be given up to the miner and the plowshare. In the
place of our humble tepees, the white man's towns and cities will appear,
and we shall be buried out of sight beneath the avalanche of the new
civilization. This is the destiny of my people. My part is to protect
them and yours, as far as I can, from violence and bloodshed while I
live, and to bring both into friendly relations, so that they may be at
peace with one another." The treaty thus negotiated was ratified by
the Senate, April 2 2d. 1874.
The account subjoined, of the earliest explorations of the San Juan
mining region, is taken from notes collected in 1876 by Mr. William N.
Byers, while traveling among its mountains and valleys, who obtained
the particulars from the surviving members of the famous Baker expedi-
tion. Since this is the only authentic account of which we have knowl-
edge, and as at this late day when nearly all have disappeared, it would'
be extremely difficult, if not wholly impossible, to secure a more complete
and accurate narrative, it is reproduced as a proper introduction to the
later annals of that now populous and prosperous section of our State.
The early explorations of what is now the " San Juan country," were
attended with more hazard, and the story is surrounded by more
romance, perhaps, than attaches to the development of any other portion
of the State. Its first exploration is generally credited to Captain
Baker. The true story of the Baker expedition is about as follows, as
gleaned mainly from S. B. Kellogg of Lake City. The history of the
settlement in the Animas Valley is from Mrs. Thomas Pollock.
In i860 California Gulch was swarming with placer miners ; among
them were S. B. Kellogg & Co., who owned some of the rich ground
and took out large amounts of gold, and Charles Baker, a restless,
adventurous, impecunious man who was always in search of something
new. He entertained extravagant opinions of the richness of the country
beyond, and at last prevailed upon Mr. Kellogg and F. R. Rice to outfit
him for a prospecting expedition. He set out in July, i860, to explore
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 193
the San Juan country, — meaning the country along the San Juan River.
Six men went with him, of whom three were Cunningham, Bloomfield
and Mason. The names of the others are forgotten. Baker reported
to Kellogg from time to time, and finally that they had found diggings
which paid twenty-five cents to the pan. In the fall Kellogg went to the
States for his family, and returned to Denver with them in November.
On the 14th of December, i860, they left Denver to join Baker, accom-
panied and followed by others, their party ranging at different tirnes on
the journey all the way from one hundred to three hundred persons.
Among them were S. B. Kellogg, Henry Allen, Thomas Pollock, F. R.
Rice, F. A. Nye, Mr. HeN-wood, Mr. Cunningham, and their families ;
Andrew Peedee, B. H. Eaton, C. L. Hall, Mr. Arnold, Abner French,
William Williams, and many others whose names cannot be recalled.
They traveled south by way of Colorado City and Pueblo, crossing the
Sangre de Cristo Mountains through Sangre de Cristo Pass. Here
they suffered greatly from inclement weather and the difficulties of travel.
Roads had to be built, and there was no feed for their stock except that
obtained by cutting down trees for them to browse upon. They were
fourteen days crossing the mountains. After getting down into San
Luis Park, they were overtaken by a terrific storm of wind and snow
that scattered their stock and caused intense suffering to many of the
people. Wagon boxes and other property were burned for fuel. On
the 4th of March they passed Conejos and traveled thence via Abiqui,
Chama River and Pagosa Springs. April ist they reached Cascade
Creek, a branch of the Animas River about twenty-five miles south of
where Silverton was subsequently located, where they went into camp.
Kellogg and several others went in search of Baker and found him and
his party in Baker's Park, now Silverton. They were living in brush
shanties where they had wintered. Their diggings were nine miles up
the river, at the point later known as Eureka. They had cut out lumber
with whip-saws and made some sluices, but had collected very little gold.
A thorough trial for weeks after proved that the diggings would not
13 II.
194 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
pay for working, the best returns never exceeding fifty cents per day
to the man.
Men passed baclc and forth constantly between the camp at Cascade
Creek and Baker's Park. Kellogg, Baker and Rice explored the country
east, north and west, passing over the high mountains to the headwaters
of the Gunnison, Uncompahgre and San Miguel Rivers, prospecting all
their head tributaries and gulches, but they were searching only for
gulch, or placer gold diggings, knowing nothing about lodes or quartz
veins.
About the ist of May the camp at Cascade Creek was broken up,
and they moved down the Animas River to where the valley or park
opens out and becomes fertile, where they laid out a town and built a
great number of cabins, naming the place "Animas City." Exploring
and prospecting were actively continued, but without satisfactory results.
Dissatisfaction ensued. Baker was severely censured as the cause of
all their misfortunes, trials and suffering, and there was strong talk of
wreaking vengeance upon him, but better counsels prevailed. Baker was,
in fact no miner, and the glowing accounts of rich finds he sent out were
entirely upon the reports of others with him. Yet Baker as the captain
of the party, was held accountable for these false reports.
On the 4th of July, 1861, Animas City was abandoned by nearly all
its people, who set out to find their way back to a civilized country.
Pollock remained until fall. He had taken from Denver eleven wagons
loaded with provisions and goods, and nearly a hundred head of oxen,
mules and horses. There was no money among the adventurers, and
he had to feed many of them. When they reached the Animas Valley
the Utes flocked around them and threatened hostilities, which were
averted only by Pollock's furnishing them such provisions and goods as
they demanded. In exchange, however, he purchased four Navajo
children who were held as captives, and for whom he gave $1,500 worth
of goods. When his stock became exhausted Pollock set out for
Santa Fe for another supply, and was absent two months. On his
return, war had broken out between the Mexicans and Utes, which
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 195
impelled him to turn the train back, he finally making his way through
to Animas City alone. Of the white settlers, only his wife and an inva-
lided prospector remained, and they were surrounded by a camp of Ute
Indians. Soon after the savages warned all the white people out of the
country. Pollock and his wife took the direction of Denver, where they
arrived in September. Baker, Peedee, with a few others, remained at
Eureka Gulch until late in the fall, when they passed out to Fort Gar-
land, where they received the first intelligence that had come to them of
the War of the Rebellion. Baker at once started for his native State,
Virginia, where he entered the Confederate army and served during
the war.
Meanwhile, during the summer of 1861, so eventful to this little
band of men, women and children, who were huddled together in the
distant wilderness on the banks of the Animas, surrounded by hostile
Indians, and often suffering the pangs of hunger, most exaggerated
reports of their discoveries were finding their way back to the mining
camps of the Upper Arkansas and the South Park, and thence all
through the country, growing as they traveled. One stampede followed
another, until hundreds of men were scattered all through the mountains
and valleys of Southwestern Colorado. Between the 5th and loth of
July several hundred men left California Gulch alone, stealing away by
night, one party followed by another, in the belief that the leaders had
secret information of Baker's fabulous discoveries of gold. Many of
them never crossed the mountains, but winter caught hundreds scat-
tered through that inhospitable region. All through the fall and winter
they came straggling in to the military posts, and to the towns and set-
tlements of New Mexico and Colorado. Some were almost naked, or
clothed in the skins of animals ; others nearly starved, and doubtless
never returned at all, perishing by the wayside.
In the summer of 1868 Charles Baker again returned to Colorado,
camping for a short time on the Upper Arkansas, near the mouth of
Chalk Creek. With several other men he started south from there,
and wandered throucrh the mountains of the Gunnison, Animas, San
196 HISTORY OF COLORADO,
Juan and La Plata Rivers, prospecting. Their numbers dwindled down
until only Baker, with a man named White, and a third whose name is
forgotten, remained together. They had reached the Colorado River
of the West at a point not far from the mouth of the Colorado Chiquito,
(Little Colorado) in the Great Canon. The Indians had followed and
harassed them constantly, and they were reduced almost to the last
extremity. On the river bank where they had clambered down to the
water, there was a quantity of driftwood, from which they constructed
a raft upon which they intended to risk their lives and float down the
turbulent and dangerous stream. All was ready for the start, when a
volley poured down upon them from the cliffs. Baker fell, crying out
to his companions, " Boys, I'm killed ! look out for yourselves." White
and the other man sprang upon the raft and cut the thongs that held
it to the shore. Soon they were plunging madly over the falls and
shooting through the boiling rapids of that tempestuous torrent. White
tied himself to the raft and urged his companion to do likewise, but
the warning was unheeded, and eventually he was swept away and
drowned. Days after. White and the death raft were discovered
floating on the river below the canon, in Southwestern Utah. He was
unbound and taken off, almost dead. In time he recovered, when his
story found its way into the newspapers, only to be ridiculed and dis-
credited. In May, 1877, White was in Lake City (Colorado) and later
took up his residence somewhere, — precise locality unknown, — in the
southern part of the State. He was then about thirty-five years of age,
a plain, matter-of-fact, practical and adventurous man. There is not a
shadow of doubt about his wonderful adventures and his marvelous
escape through the awful canons of the Colorado.
Such was the untimely end of Capt. Baker, who has been credited
with much romantic heroism, but really accomplished very little ; who
has also been censured for much of the sorrow and suffering that befell
his associates, was threatened with shooting and hanging for leading
men upon "fool's errands," but actually never intentionally deceived
any one.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 197
Tom Pollock, one of the principal actors in this dramatic chapter of
chronicles, died in the Animas Valley in the month of August, 1S77.
Of the Navajo children he rescued from the Ute Indians, one, a girl,
was adopted by a German family in New Mexico, and at last accounts
was still living with them ; another girl was adopted by Col. Pffieffer,
and murdered with the rest of his family by Indians at Pagosa Springs,
some years ago ; a boy was taken by R. E. Whitsitt of Denver, who
endeavored to raise an(?r educate him, but he passed away a few years
afterward. The fourth, named John Pollock, was raised by Pollock.
Many of the people who were members of the Animas Colony in
1 86 1, are yet living in Colorado, and a few are in Denver.
After the fruitless expeditions of Capt. Baker, and those who fol-
■ lowed him in 1S60 and 1S61, the San Juan country was left to its
primeval solitude for a number of years. They had searched only for
gulch or gold placer diggings, and there is no evidence yet to prove that
their work was not thoroughly done. At that time but few of the Col-
orado prospectors knew anything about mineral veins, and silver deposits
were unsuspected. Small parties like that of Baker in 1868, no doubt
wandered through the mountains to the southwest, but they found
nothing to satisfy themselves or excite the public, hence their explora-
tions attracted no serious attention.
The next exploration to that distant and almost inaccessible region,
that was well planned and systematically prosecuted, occurred in 1869,
and strangely enough, it started from the opposite direction. It was
composed of brave and determined men, from whose discoveries have
grown the splendid developments now witnessed in that highl}- productive
section of our State.
On the first day of August, 1869, a party of twenty-two prospectors
and miners was organized at Prescott, Arizona, with Calvin Jackson for
leader and captain. Jackson was a Californian with a varied and adven-
turous experience, — conspicuously in Indian warfare, which was fortunate,
as many conflicts of this kind were to be met in the course of their travels.
The party expected to join Capt. Cooley's expedition, a similar company
198 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
of twenty-eight men that had been organized at Forts Goodwin and
Reno, in Arizona, for the same purpose. The latter party was supposed
to be on its way to Rio del Sal (Salt River), in Northeastern Arizona.
The Jackson expedition marched out from Prescott and reached Fort
Reno in a week, having had several skirmishes with Apache Indians en
route. At Reno they found Col. Sanford of the United States Army, —
then in command of Fort McDowell, — with three hundred cavalry in
search of the Cooley party. Scouts were sent out in all directions, and
in a few days Cooley and his men were found on Salt River, where
Jackson joined them. The military then returned to their post.
The prospectors now numbered fifty men, well mounted and
equipped, and armed with breech-loading guns and revolvers. The
command was shared equally by Jackson and Cooley, who were alike
devoted to the common good of their respective companies. Hostile
Indians swarmed over the country, intent upon preventing the white
men from effecting a lodgment in their favorite hunting grounds. At
night signal fires were seen on the lofty mountain peaks ; during the day
columns of smoke exchanged messages between the savage bands.
Alarms and surprises were constant and wearing. A third of the force
was required to guard the camps, as many more to care for and protect
the stock, while the remainder were prospecting and exploring, though
never daring to stray very far from the others.
Near their camp in a small ravine, ran a little stream which they
named Cherry Creek, in memory of that which traverses Denver.
Along this creek the party made its first venture. The canon was
narrow, its sides precipitous. They had proceeded some distance toward
its head and settled down to work, when a few minutes later the mount-
ain slopes above them, that had hitherto been as silent as the tomb,
suddenly swarmed with Apaches who began hurling rocks down upon
the little band of miners. The Indians were beyond the range of fire-
arms, sheltered and hidden by great rocks and bushes. With an inex-
haustible supply of primitive ammunition at hand, they completely
commanded the situation. There was no alternative left the miners but
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 199
to abandon the work and escape to their camp, which was accomplished
without injury to any one. There a council was held, at which it was
agreed that the party was not strong enough to maintain itself and carry
out its objects. All but eight resolved to turn back, and soon did so.
The eight who decided to fight it out on that line at all hazards and
establish their right to search for gold, were Adnah French, J. C. Dunn,
Dempsey Reese, N. Marsh, David Ring, Wood Dood, A. Loomis and
Graves (the latter known as " Old Boston"), all of whom had been
personally acquainted before leaving Prescott. French had been a
member of the Baker expedition in i86o-'6i, and under his advice and
leadership, the seven others decided to proceed if possible, to South-
western Colorado. Negotiations were opened by them with the Coyo-
tero band of Apaches, who had grown tired of war. Their chief, Miguel,
was inclined to be friendly, and the result of the negotiation was a treaty,
by the terms of which the white men were to be permitted to travel as
rapidly as possible across the country, without stopping to dig holes in
the ground or search for gold in any way. In return, Capt. French was
to use his influence with the " Great Father" at Washington in behalf
of the Coyoteros, for their good. An escort of nine braves was fur-
nished them, and the little band of eight white men turned their faces
northward.
By the others their undertaking was regarded as foolhardy in the
extreme. Every argument was employed to dissuade them, but without
effect. The main party soon after returned by way of the Pinal Mount-
ains to Prescott, where it disbanded. Some months later, Cooley joined
the eight seceders at Tierra Amarilla, on the waters of the Upper Rio
Grande.
The first night's encampment of the French party was on a stream
called Carissa, in the midst of a great number of Indians who were
engaged in a drunken revel. The liquor they drank was called tszuiii,
made from corn and vegetable roots. They were holding war dances,
decked out in all the savage finery of war paint, feathers and war
dresses, whooping and shouting like fiends, and making the mountains
200 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
echo aod re-echo with their hideous yells. Consequently our adven-
turers passed a sleepless and anxious night. The following day the
escort, for some unexplained reason, refused to proceed, but on the next
an early start was made, followed by a long march through a hilly
country which brought them to the camp of a young Coyotero chief
named Juaro (Wah-ro) with a small band of followers. He was much
surprised at their appearance, but treated them hospitably ; sent their
horses out to graze ; supplied fresh venison, and assigned them a place
to eat and sleep. They stopped here a short time, and when the
march was resumed, Juaro and his band accompanied them. During
the day they came among some antelope, when Juaro put on his hunt-
ing dress, and taking Reese's rifle, in a short time killed five of the fleet-
footed animals. In the afternoon they crossed several large and fresh
Indian trails which caused them much anxiety, but the young chief
assured them there was no danger, — that he would protect them at the
cost of his own life, if necessary. They traveled in this manner for
several days, without serious adventure, but with frequent new causes of
alarm. At length they ventured to talk with Juaro about the object of
their journey, and inquired if he knew where gold could be found. He
replied that he did, but dared not reveal such knowledge, because if he
did, his life would be taken by his own people.
Several long night marches ensued for want of water, that taxed the
strength of men and animals to the utmost. One morning after the
severest of all their nocturnal rides, as they were building fires to cook
breakfast, a large party of Indians armed with guns, swept down upon
them, creating the greatest alarm, but the presence of their dusky escort
disarmed hostile intent, and the white men explained that they only
came to trade. In the evening they reached one of the Zuni villages,
where they were most hospitably treated, and there rested for some
time.
They found the Zunis to be a peaceful, industrious, agricultural
people, whose proudest boast was that none of their race had ever shed
the blood of a white man. The party remained at this village several
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 201
days, trading their jaded and worn out animals for fresh stock, and
being treated generously wherever they went among the several villages
of the tribe, without expense.
The next camp was at Fort Wingate, where a stay of a week was
made, and a fresh stock of provisions procured. Thus happily recu-
perated and reinforced with supplies, and filled with renewed hopes,
they pushed on toward the San Juan River, via Fort Defiance, at which
point there were great numbers of Navajo Indians, who at that time
were friendly. From Defiance to the San Juan River they proceeded
leisurely, passing through the country of the Navajos who evinced no
hostile demonstrations, but Indian like, made many attempts to steal
their stock. Arriving at the San Juan they found a delightful region,
apparently well adapted to agriculture and grazing. Soon afterward
they were pursued by a band of renegade Indians, well mounted and
armed, who made numerous hostile demonstrations, but gained no
advantage.
Following up the river they arrived at a stream which French
recognized as the Rio Mancos, one of the principal tributaries of the San
Juan. Unlike most of the streams in Southwestern Colorado, it has no
valley to speak of, until the forks at the foot of the range are reached.
Here there Is a valley, or park of several thousand acres, covered with a
luxuriant growth of grass, wild oats and rye. From this park they
pursued a northerly direction, across a pine-covered mesa or tableland,
twenty-five miles to the Dolores River.
It was now the second week In October, and having traversed a
well grassed country, their animals were in excellent condition. Their
provisions had held out well, as fish in the numerous streams they
passed were very abundant. Just as they approached the mineral
region, the goal of their ambition, and for which they had endured so
many hardships and encountered so many dangers, they went into camp
one delightful October evening, and after supper lay down under the
clear starlit sky. Next morning they awoke to find themselves covered
with twelve inches of snow which had fallen during the n'urht. The
202 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
storm prevailed for five days, when French ordered a retreat to a lower
altitude. Dry wood and grass were buried out of sight, therefore to
avoid starvation and loss of animals, this step became a matter of neces-
sity. When the party set out from Arizona they were provided only
with such clothing and blankets as were necessary in that warm climate,
hence, being unprepared for such severe weather they suffered intensely
from the cold. The direction of their retreat was south, across the
Dolores Range, shoveling their way through the drifting snow. They
reached the valley of the Animas, a distance of about sixty miles, in the
course of ten days of hard work and most laborious travel, entering
it within a short distance of the old AnimaS' City, where they found a
number of buildings that had been erected by the Kellogg-PoUock
expedition of 1861, in good preservation. Here they remained some
time resting, recruiting their animals, hunting and fishing. At length
their supplies began to run short, when it was resolved to go down to
Santa Fe for a new outfit and provisions for the next season. At
Abiquiu most of the party remained during the winter. French and
Dunn proceeded to Santa Fe, where they interested Governor Pile, E.
W. Little and others in the project of thoroughly prospecting the San
Juan country. They procured supplies, tools, ammunition and so forth,
and a couple of weeks later returned to Abiquiu, where they found
a council of Ute chiefs who had heard of the expedition and had
followed its trail to the valley. An Indian agent, Major Henson of the
United States Army was there also, and used his best endeavors in
behalf of the prospectors. Ignacio and Sopatah, with other chiefs,
composed the council. They objected to prospecting in the country,
but finally gave permission to dig for gold and silver, provided they
would not plow up the ground, build cabins nor make fences, and fur-
thermore, they were never to forget that the country belonged to them
— the Utes.
The council having terminated, the prospectors went to Tierra
Amarilla, and encamped for the remainder of the winter in some
abandoned government buildings at that place. Before spring their
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 203
numbers were increased to twelve, by the addition of C. E. Cooley, who
assisted in leading the expedition in the beginning, with three
Scotchmen from Montana, Thornton, Robinson, and another whose
name has been forgotten.
In April, 1870, they started again for the San Juan region, trav-
eling together until they reached the Animas. There French, Reese
and Cooley turned up the river through the canon to Baker's Park,
prospecting at several points, and finally discovering the famous " Little
Giant" and " Mountaineer'' mines. They returned to Santa Fe the fol-
lowing winter by way of Animas City and Tierra Amarilla. The larger
party, in which were Dunn, Ring, Marsh, Graves and the three Scotch-
men, followed the trail made the previous season to the Dolores, where
they prospected under great difficulties ; made some locations of galena
lodes, and then returned to Santa Fe in the fall for supplies and means
to develop the mines they had discovered. They were unsuccessful in
this venture, and a majority of the party the next season (1871) settled
on the Animas about Baker's Park, — now Silverton,— where they con-
tinued to reside for years afterward.
Such is the graphic but simple story of the two great expeditions
into the mountains of the San Juan, which, though fruitless to the dis-
coverers of the mines, led in a few years after 1871 to the opening of
vast stores of mineral wealth, and the establishment of many beautiful
and industrious centers that are now pouring their treasures of gold
and silver into the channels of commerce.
In 1872 hundreds of emigrants, attracted by the reports of valuable
discoveries, began to pour into the region, and in 1873 3- number of
mining districts were organized. During this year the mining sections
were occupied by three or four hundred prospectors and miners.
Between two and three thousand locations of claims were made upon
veins or lodes discovered, though but little development occurred in
any direction. In 1874, after a long and severe winter, the extent and
value of the lodes began to be made known. Some of the ores ex-
tracted proved very rich in silver, as demonstrated by assays and other
204 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
well known processes for testing. At this time the nearest postofhce
was at Del Norte, about one hundred and twenty-five miles distant.
All supplies, merchandise, stores, etc., had to be carried in upon the
backs of pack animals, over rude and frequently dangerous trails, for
there were no roads. The counties subsequently organized, embracing
the mineral regions, are Rio Grande, San Juan, Hinsdale, Ouray,
Dolores and San Miguel, and include the sources of the Rio Grande,
the Animas, Gunnison, Dolores, San Miguel and Uncompahgre Rivers.
The general altitude is the highest in Colorado. There are nine
peaks which rise to the height of 14,000 feet and many that are above
13,000 feet. Lake City, Silverton and Ouray form the corners of a
triangle, with a stately mountain known as '• Hurricane Peak," in the
center.
Baker's Park is a picturesque valley of limited extent, in which
stands the pretty town of Silverton, the capital of the principal mining
division, watered by the Rio Las Animas, which flows through the park.
The old town of Howardsville is situated about four miles above.
Hayden's reports say the mountains are all of volcanic origin, being
trachytic, with schists appearing beneath in some cases, and in the
faces of the almost perpendicular walls of rock that everywhere rise
twelve hundred to fifteen hundred feet above, may be traced dozens of
quartz veins bearing gold and silver.
Capt. Moss, with a party of Californians, in 1874 built a ditch on the
La Plata River, to facilitate the working of gold placers located there,
but which were never very productive. Gold, silver, copper and iron ores
were discovered, with coal measures which are well described by Mr.
Hills in the second chapter of this volume. Parrott City, of ephemeral
renown, was founded a mile south, toward the mouth of La Plata
Cailon. The lower Animas Valley is a beautiful and productive region,
and its climate is unsurpassed by any other section of Colorado. Its
chief town, Hermosa, which has advanced but little, is situate upon
Hermosa Creek. Another town, christened for Governor Elbert, was
built at a point four miles north, in a forest of pine timber.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 205
Hinsdale County was organized in 1875, and Lake City, its capital,
founded in the same year. Its first Board of County Commissioners
consisted of Harry Franklin, Theodore Taylor and A. R. Thompson.
County Clerk, W. H. Green; Treasurer, B. F. Jones; Sheriff, James
Sweeney. The first town officers of Lake City were Henry Finley,
President; M. E. Dawn, Clerk, with Joel N. Angine, A. R. Thompson,
Enos Hotchkiss, A. Dole, W. C. Lewman, and C. Bartholf, Trustees.
Like most of the new towns and camps in the mountains, the dis-
covery of mineral in that section was more or less the result of accident,
which was thus related by a correspondent in 1S76. In the summer of
1874, Saguache, then a town, but recently founded, had lofty aspirations,
and its inhabitants were ambitious to strike out for all the trade within
reach. Otto Mears, the great road builder of the Southwest, to whom that
entire country is mainly indebted for the greater part of its best and
most direct thoroughfares, a man of tireless energy and constantly
engaged in schemes of public improvement, was among the first to settle
there. But of thjs hereafter. At the period named, the principal men of
Saguache with the view of penetrating and capturing the growing trade
of the San Juan, then a source of great revenue and prestige to its rival
Del Norte, formed a company to build a toll road from Saguache to the
Animas Valley. Enos Hotchkiss, a veteran builder, took charge of the
enterprise, which involved the construction of a wagon road one
hundred and thirty miles in length before the end of the followino-
autumn. He reached the lovely valley where Lake City now stands,
toward the last of August. Following on up the river, he observed
upon the hillside some float rock which attracted his attention, for he
had had much experience in prospecting and mining on the Pacific
slope. He examined it closely and afterward traced out the vein from
which it had been eroded, a work of but little difficulty, as it was quite
large and distinctly defined. He staked off a claim, writing upon the
stakes the names of James Sparling, Ben Hall, B. A. Bartholf, jNIonett
Hotchkiss and his own, as the claimants. He returned to the Animas
River, and in due time reported to others what he had discovered,
206 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
which led to the settlement and organization named above. The lode
subsequently fell into the hands of Henry Finley who had purchased
Hall's interest and substituted his own name for Hall's on the stake,
and that of W. C. Lawrence for that of Sparling. The vein was opened
and found to be very rich, carrying a tellurium ore which gave large
assays in the precious metals. From the reports of this discovery
people came flocking in from all directions. The town was christened
"Lake City," from the lovely lakes in the near vicinity. The Hotchkiss
soon became celebrated for the abundance and value of its ores.
Finley purchased Bartholf's interest, and ultimately sold a part of his
holdings to the Crooke Bros., who were the first to establish reduction
works in the district. The mine was quite extensively worked, the ore
being packed by mule trains to Del Norte, and thence shipped to
Pueblo and New York. Mr. J. K. Mullen and Henry Henson,
partially explored the district in 1871, but made no improvements.
In 1877 Lake City had a population of 2,500, but in a few years it
had dwindled down to a very small number, owing to its distance from
the larger ore markets and the difficulty and expense of conveying its
products to them. A great number of valuable mines have been found
there. It is situated in one of the most picturesque and attractive
locations in all the mountain counties. The town is very like George-
town at the head of the Clear Creek Valley.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 207
CHAPTER X.
1873-74 — Financial condition of the territory in 1873 — yields of agri-
culture BANKS AND BANKERS POLITICAL DISSENSIONS NOMINATION OF JUDGE
BROMWELL AND T. M. PATTERSON FOR CONGRESS THE SACRIFICE OF BROMWELL
AND THE ELECTION OF PATTERSON PROPERTY VALUES IN 1 874— DESTRUCTIVE
VISITATIONS BY LOCUSTS EXTENT OF THEIR RAVAGES DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN
THE BLACK HILLS STAMPEDE TO THAT COUNTRY IN DEFIANCE OF TROOPS AND
ORDERS.
The panic of Black Friday, elsewhere epitomized, caused no
material paralysis of industry and trade in Colorado until after its most
serious effects in the States east of the Mississippi had passed. The
yield of the mines exhibited an increase, crops were bountiful, unusual
attention had been given to investments in live stock, trade pursued its
natural course, immigration was nearly double that of 1872, and the
various lines of trade had been reduced to a firmer and more legitimate
basis.
From the official reports and well considered estimates, the follow-
ing synopsis is given. The assessed valuation of property for the
Territory in 1873 aggregated $35,582,438.50. Arapahoe County re-
turned $11,871,908; Pueblo, $3,105,191 ; Gilpin, $2,536,774; Jefferson,
$2,190,016; El Paso, $2,108,045; Boulder, $2,098,523; Weld, $2,056,-
544; Douglas, $1,888,981 ; Clear Creek, $1,394,948; and Fremont,
$1,213,689. The balance of the counties returned less than one
million each.
The gross valuation in 1872 was $31,260,257.30, and in 1871
$24,112,078.37. The returns made by the assessors did not show, how-
ever, more than fifty per cent, of the real value of property.
The published statements of three National Banks in Denver at the
208 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
close of the year, when compared with those given out at the beginning
of September, showed a decrease in loans of $228,186.38; in cash,
bonds, etc., of $531,529.22 ; in individual deposits of $689,633.75, and in
the total deposits of $786,961.56, which illustrates the extent of the
shrinkage in this direction from the great financial convulsion, and
measurably that in all lines during the last three months.
Some activity was manifested in the agricultural sections, the
various entries amounting to 281,864 acres. In addition, the Denver
Pacific Railroad Company sold 42,882 acres.
Of buildings in the city of Denver, 648 had been erected at a cost
of $1,382,600. The whole number of buildings erected during the
three years ending December 31st, 1873, was 2,145, at a cost of
$5,100,600.
The transfers of real estate amounted to $2,879,905, as shown by
the conveyances, 2,323 deeds having been recorded. In 1872 the
number was 1,188, and the consideration $1,606,258,— an increase of
$1,273,647. A compilation of business statistics gave a total of $14,-
323,800 as the volume of trade for '73, showing an increase of $1,284,-
800 over the previous year.
Manufactures returned a total production of $3,249,100, an increase
of $1,855,100 over 1872. Thus we have a combined total of $17,572,-
900 for 1873, as against $14,433,000 in 1872.
Thirty-five business houses in Pueblo sold nearly two million pounds
of merchandise in 1873. The total amount of freight received was
something over 2,000,000 pounds. Five million brick were manufact-
ured, and 3,000,000 feet of lumber sold. The land office at that place
disposed of 129,957 acres of public land.
From Governor Elbert's message to the legislature delivered Jan-
uary 7th, 1874, which epitomizes the various reports, we find that
Wilbur C. Lothrop, one of the most alert and efficient of all our Terri-
torial superintendents of public schools, and under whose vigilant
administration the groundwork of the present admirable system was laid,
resigned his office in 1873, and was succeeded by Horace M. Hale of
CTTxc.
^
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 209~
Gilpin County, under whose fostering care some marked advances
occurred.
The report indicated that there had been an increase of fifty per
cent, in the number of schools; in school districts of 52 per cent.; in
schoolhouses, 56 per cent.; in school population, 100 per cent.- in school
attendance, 59 per cent., and in the value of school property, of 216
per cent.
The following was determined upon as a fair average of the crops
throughout the Territory :
Wheat 28 bushels per acre.
Oats 55 " "
Barle\' 40 " "
Corn 35 bushels per acre.
Potatoes 200 " "
Onions 250 " "
But there were exceptional instances where, with superior land care-
fully irrigated and well cultivated, immense crops were realized. " For
example," says Governor Elbert, "for three successive years the pre-
mium crops of wheat exhibited at the Territorial Fairs ranged from sixty-
seven to seventy-three bushels per acre. In one year two fields of corn
were sworn to as having yielded over 200 bushels per acre ; potatoes
have given from 400 to 600 bushels per acre ; onions have reached 1,000
bushels per acre. A cabbage of eighty-two pounds' weight has been sold
in the Denver market. Those of forty to sixty pounds each are plentiful
at every annual fair. Car loads have been shipped away in which the
closely trimmed heads averaged throughout twenty-three pounds each."
The railways completed and in operation at the close of 1873,
embraced 624 miles. The estimated cost of their construction and
equipment at an average of $18,000 per mile, cash', was $11,132,000.
At this period, 544 miles additional were in course of construction. The
gross earnings for the year mentioned of all the railways, amounted to
$2,205,000.
We had at that time 1,017 miles of telegraph lines, at an approx-
imated valuation of $400,000 ; one hundred and twenty-five churches
valued at $450,000 ; one hundred and eighty public school buildings,
14 II.
210 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
valued at $260,183.46; smelting and other reduction works, valued at
$3,000,000. Two hundred thousand acres of land were under cultivation.
At the January, 1874, election for officers and directors of the First
National Bank of Denver, W. S. Cheesman was chosen Vice-Presi-
dent vice George W. Clayton, who declined a re-election. George
Wells, who had been assistant cashier of this bank for a number of years,
died in April, 1874, and was succeeded by Mr. Geo. W. Kassler. In the
same year Mr. Charles B. Kountze was made President of the Colorado
National. The First . National Bank of Central City began business
January 4th, 1874, as successor to Thatcher, Standley & Co., private
bankers. Joseph A. Thatcher was chosen President, Otto Sauer Vice-
President, and Frank C. Young, Cashier. Thatcher had been in the bank-
ing business since 1863, when he took charge for Warren Hussey & Co.,
with whom he remained until 1870, when the banking house of Thatcher,
Standley & Co. succeeded Hussey & Co. The Rocky Mountain Na-
tional was organized some years earlier by the Kountze Brothers.
The German National Bank of Denver was organized in February,
1874, and commenced business May 4th of that year, with John J.
Reithmann President, George Tritch Vice-President and C. A. Fischer
Cashier. The cash capital was $100,000. The first directors were L. F.
Bartels, M. D. Clifford, John Good, J. M. Eckhart, Conrad Walbrach,
Joseph L. Bailey and Walter A. Stewart. The bank was opened on
Fifteenth street between Larimer and Holladay streets. The First
National Bank moved from Blake and Fifteenth streets to the McClin-
tock Block on the corner of Larimer and Sixteenth streets, and recom-
menced business there on Monday, January loth, 1876.
The Miner's National Bank at Georgetown, which had been organ-
ized in the summer of 1874, with a capital of $50,000, suspended in
December, 1875, when Mr. Samuel N. Wood, now cashier of the First
National, was appointed Receiver by the Comptroller of the Treasury,
and at once took charge of its affairs. Mr. W'ood was succeeded by
Col. L. C. Ellsworth, by whom all its accounts were settled as far as
they could be.
^^z.^-<l_J^
^
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 211
On the ist of March, 1875, the Bank of Clear Creek County
opened. The incorporators were D. D. Mallory of Baltimore, Md.,
L. C. Kilham of New York. Francis G. King of Denver, Charles R.
Fish of Georgetown, and Charles Renter. Mr. Fish was made Presi-
dent, Mr. King Vice-President, and Mr. Reuter Cashier. The paid up
capital was $100,000.
At the May meeting of the directors of the German National in
1876, Mr. Reithmann retired from the presidency, when George Tritch
Avas elected in his stead, and Job A. Cooper, at present writing Gov-
ernor of Colorado, was elected Vice-President. H. Suhr was re-elected
Cashier.
The City National Bank opened for business June loth, 1872, with
the following organization : Directors, Henry Crow, Frank Palmer, J,
Sidney Brown, John R. Hanna and William Barth. Officers, Henry
Crow President, Frank Palmer Vice-President, John R. Hanna Cashier.
Capital $100,000. The original base was the banking house of Warren
Hussey & Co.
The first bank in Pueblo was established by the Thatcher Brothers,
in January, 1871. It was changed to the First National Bank in June
following.
On the 2 2d of May, 1874, the entire business center of Central
City, in Gilpin County, was destroyed by fire through the lack of a
proper water supply and an efficient fire department. The confla-
gration originated in a Chinese laundry on Spring street, shortly after '
10 o'clock in the morning. It was a beautiful day, the atmosphere
clear and tranquil. The flames made slow progress at the beginning,
and might have been easily suppressed, or at least confined to the
frame building occupied bythe celestials, by a well organized body of
trained men supported by suitable facilities for such emergencies. The
citizens flocked to the scene, where great confusion prevailed, and but
little effective work was done. As a natural consequence the flames
soon leaped to adjoining structures, and within an hour were spreading
over the cit)- in lurid torrents which no department, however well sus-
212 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
tained and directed, could have checked. The town was largely com-
posed of wooden buildings that were as inflammable as tinder. Soon
Spring street to Bridge, and thence down Main street on both sides to
Lawrence and Eureka, were enveloped in flames, sweeping onward
unchecked and with fearful rapidity ; thence up Eureka to the Teller
House and "Register" block, the former of brick and the latter of
stone, where they were stopped. But the destruction continued on
down Lawrence until there was nothing more to burn, and at last died
out. Two brick buildings on Main Street and one or two on Lawrence
were all that remained of the business part of the town. When night
fell, the people from their homes upon the hillsides looked down upon
a mass of smoking embers. Throughout that memorable day Henry
M. and Willard Teller, W. H. Bush, and D. C. Collier of the " Miner's
Register," assumed the direction of the working forces, exerting all their
power to avert the awful catastrophe, but in vain. Next day the work of
rebuilding began, and within a year a more substantial city of brick and
stone arose from the blackened ruins.
On the 5th of August, 1874, the contending elements of the Re-
publican party, torn and distracted by factional divisions arising from
the incidents attending the removal of Elbert and the reappointment of
Gen. McCook, met in Territorial convention at Denver to nominate a
candidate for delegate in Congress. The impossibility of proceeding
harmoniously was apparent before the convention assembled. The bit-
terness of antecedent contests remained, cropping out at every stage of
the preliminary caucusing. Premonitory evidences of coming defeat
were unmistakably manifest. All attempts to establish peace and order
were unsuccessful.
The choice fell upon Judge H. P. H. Bromwell, one of the ablest
and purest men in the party, a lawyer of acknowledged eminence ; had
been a member of Congress from Illinois, an honorable, upright man,
worthy of profound respect, for whom all who knew him entertained
highest esteem, and, as far as it was possible to be, he was disassociated
from the factional animosities which affected nearly every person con-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 213
nected with politics. As it happened, howev^er, the trend of events indi
cated Bromwell to be the choice of those who favored the restoration
of the McCook regime. Belford, the orator of the party, in a desperate
endeavor to promote unity of action by all the elements attached to the
organization, delivered an elaborate and well considered speech from
the platform, but it fell upon stony ground. The rupture appeared to
be irreconcilable. In this state of feeling the party entered the cam-
paign against a united and confident Democracy led by Thomas M.
Patterson, a recent comer, who emigrated to Colorado in December,
1872, from Crawfordsville, Indiana, and began the practice of law. He
was but little known outside of the city of Denver, while his antag-
onist was held in good repute throughout the Territory.
At the election which occurred in September, the vote was much
lighter than usual, from the causes stated. The lukewarm support
given Bromwell by the press and people was the outgrowth of a
rancorous desire on the part of leading Republicans to rebuke President
Grant for his acts, and to visit, by the defeat of their candidate, em-
phatic condemnation upon those who were held accountable for the
disorders which they felt had been wantonly precipitated by the McCook
faction. As a result, Mr. Patterson was elected by a large majority.
Of the twenty-five counties, Patterson carried nineteen and Bromwell
six. The total vote was only 16,552, a decrease of about 5,000 from
that of 1873. Bromwell w-as slaughtered in the house of his friends.
Mr. Chaffee had served two terms as delegate from the Territory,
and could have had a third nomination and election if desired, but on
his return from Washington after the adjournment of Congress and the
confirmation of McCook, he notified his friends that under no circum-
stances would he accept. He secured, before the end of his term, how-
ever, the passage of an act to enable the people to form a State consti-
tution, and to the consummation of this great project he now bent all
his remarkable energies.
The returns for the assessment of 1874 gave a total valuation of
taxable property, exclusive of mines, which never have been taxed,
214 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
amounting to $44,393,806, an increase of $10,144,957.50 over 1873.
As the Territory was then just on the eve of its transmutation to state-
hood, it is interesting to note the financial condition of the more prom-
inent counties, and the increase of wealth in each during the four years
beginning with 1870. In this connection it is well to consider that
property in Colorado never has been assessed at more than fifty per
cent, of its actual value, and in some sections, even a lower rate has
governed :
COUNTY, 1870. 1874.
Arapahoe $4,706,881 $15,088,035
Pueblo 857,811 3,784,343
El Paso 524.965 3,160,323
Bent. '. 351,248 2,172,267
Boulder 1,121,972 2,547964
Weld 854,381 2,063,166
Douglas 624,397 1,470,638
Jefferson 1,034,738 2,034,529
The six railways constructed in the interim had nearly quadrupled
the taxable wealth of the Territor)' at large. As an illustration of the
advance in the value of land in the better portion of Boulder County, it
was stated by the Boulder "News," in October, 1874, that the increase
in the price of real estate during the fifteen years preceding had been
from $1.25 per acre, the government price, and considered high at that,
to $25 and $100 per acre for farming lands.
After a decade of freedom from the ravages of grasshoppers, the
scourge appeared with renewed force and destructiveness in 1874.
Scores, hundreds perhaps of the farmers in Northwestern Colorado lost
from three-fourths to seven-eighths of their entire crops, and in the
winter following many were without breadstuffs for their families, with
no seed for the next season's planting, and almost destitute of food for
their stock. The pests remained during the year, and in the autumn
deposited their eggs, from which countless millions were hatched
in the spring of 1875. They spread all over Colorado, Nebraska and
Kansas, effecting greneral ruin to agriculturists in that immense terri-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 215
tory. As an example of their universal prevalence in Kansas, of their
enormous multiplication from the native germ and of their unappeasable
voraciousness immediately after birth, the following humorous story was
told : " A woman dug up a pan full of dirt in which to plant some
flower seeds. She put the pan under the stove and went out to gossip
with a neighbor. On her return after an hour's absence, she found seven
thousand bushels of grasshoppers, generated by the heat, literally eating
her out of house and home. They first attacked the green shades on
the windows, and next a green painted dustpan. A green Irish servant
girl, asleep in one of the rooms, was the next victim and not a vestige
was left. The stove and stove pipe followed, and then the house was
torn down so they could get at the chimney, which was painted green.
Boards, joists, beams, plastering, clothing, nails, hinges, door knobs,
plates, tinware, everything in fact the house contained was eaten up, and
when the woman arrived on the scene she saw two large hoppers sitting
up on end playing mumble-peg with a carving knife as to which should
have the cellar. She brought suit against the insurance company, which
refused to pay the policy on the ground that the building was not
destroyed by fire ; but the court rendered judgment for the plaintiff, she
having proven that the grasshoppers were generated by the fire in the
stove."
The destruction of crops in this Territory in 1S75, though very
extensive, was by no means so great as had been anticipated when the
hoppers made their appearance in the spring. A great many ingenious
and very effective devices had been employed to capture and destroy
them before they acquired their wings. In the Cache-la-Poudre Valley,
one of the richest and most extensively cultivated of that day, the
devastation was chiefly confined to a strip a few miles wide, north of
Greeley and west of the Denver Pacific Railway. On the Big Thompson,
however, great damage was done, and on the St. Vrain the farmers lost
nearly everything. On Clear Creek and the Upper Platte Valley, great
losses occurred. Mr. N. C. Meeker, editor of the Greeley "Tribune,"
estimated the damage to crops in Weld County at $1,000,000, and
216 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
$4,000,000 more for the Territory at large. From a letter published by
Mr. W. D. Arnett of Morrison, Jefferson County, one of the most
intelligent and experienced of the farmers of Colorado, we obtain a very
complete epitome of chronicles relating to the several appearances of
locusts in this country, the effects produced, and their migrations.
In September, 1861, a single army of locusts passed this point
moving south, southwest. They left but few eggs which hatched out
between April loth and 20th, 1S62, but did no harm. There were none
herein 1863. In 1864, they came, August 26th, at 10 o'clock a. m., in
force, destroying all late crops. Wheat and other small grains had been
harvested ; corn was almost entirely destroyed. The same year the first
army was followed by three other distinct armies. They deposited vast
quantities of eggs which hatched out from April 10th to May 15th, 1865.
That year the young fry destroyed nearly everything that was not pro-
tected by ditches. The young climbed and descended the mountains,
moving southward. On the level plains thej' traveled in the same
course, unless arrested by water, or attracted by young crops. As soon
as fledged they left, going south, southwest. In 1S65 the trichnia or
ichneumon fly attacked the locusts, destroying vast numbers. The full
fledged locust came August 5th, and did considerable damage, but there
seemed to be but one army, and they soon passed, leaving no eggs to
speak of. In 1866 they came about September 9th, but as the crops
were mostly harvested, and corn too ripe for them to eat, comparatively
little injury was done. They deposited eggs in quantity, which caused
great mischief in the spring of 1867.
From 1867 to 1S74, they were not here in armies, only a few here
and there. On July 22d, 1874, they came from the north en masse.
The first army was followed by six other separate and distinct armies,
and committed ruinous havoc. The estimated damage was half a million
dollars for 1874. They deposited illimitable quantities of eggs, which
commenced hatching out April loth, 1875, and continued hatching for
about six weeks, though the greater part were out in the first twenty
days. The young fry traveled the same as in 1865, and when fledged
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 217
they moved in the same course, as proven by the pubHshed reports of
the Hayden expedition of that year. The loss of crops that year was
estimated at about $4,000,000 in Colorado alone.
The fledged locust came again from the north about August i 7th,
1875, and did much injury to the late sown crops, and in most cases
ruined them. They left their eggs as before, but owing to the exper-
ience of farmers they did comparatively little damage as compared with
other years. In 1876 the fledged locust came again from the north,
August 15th, in successive armies, leaving a vast deposit of eggs-, but
the ichneumon fly left the germ of destruction in a very large percentage
of the egg sacs. From 1873 to 1876, the locust invaded Colorado, Ne-
braska, Minnesota and Iowa from the north simultaneously, and their
course thereafter was south. The only difference was that the eastern
wing of the army was one, two, three, four, and in Minnesota, five de-
grees behind the western rim of the army. In 1876 the locust entered
Nebraska at the same time as in Colorado, and passed the line of 40°
north latitude, ten days behind those of Colorado in their course
south. As a rule, the whole movement for the three years mentioned,
was south.
The locust is remarkably gregarious. As soon as they are hatched
they gather in gangs, and after they are two to five days old will all
move in the same direction in good order. At hatching they hop out
of the ground as if forced up by those in the egg sacs, as the "little
cusses" come up apparently without effort, with their legs folded back as
other things are born into the world. When they first emerge they are
as white as a sheet of letter paper, but change in a few moments to a
dark brown, when they begin to seek for food, often in five minutes
after being hatched. They shed twice a very light skin or scales before
fledging, which gives them the different shades of color noticeable in
bands of them. When fledged they fasten themselves to a bush, weed
or a blade of grass with their heads down, and become apparently sense-
less. In a few seconds the scale breaks on the back of the neck, and
afterward it gives way just back of the wings, and by continuous efforts
218 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
they draw themselves out of the scale even to the very point of their
toe nails. This operation requires from ten to fifteen minutes. As soon
as out, the wings appear, which they unroll with their legs and by giv-
ing the wings a flying motion. They remain from one to two days
sunning themselves, when they are ready to leave, never to return to
that place again, unless it is by successive generations. The life of a
locust is about five months. The females die immediately after deposit-
ing their eggs. They drill holes in the ground with an apparatus on
their tails, to a depth of three-quarters to an inch and a quarter, and
there leave their eggs in a membranous, glutinous sac, which expands as
the eggs develop.
No insect has more enemies than the locust. All insectivorous
birds feed upon them, and in addition they are pursued by the ichneumon
and parasite flies. The ichneumon destroys billions of them every year.
It follows them where they are depositing their eggs and leaves a nit in
many of the holes made for the reception of eggs, which develops into a
grub which eats the eggs and in the spring comes out as an ichneumon
fly. While the young are fledging, it seizes them by the side and stings
them under the wing which soon kills them, and in about thirty hours
afterward a maggot eats through the side and crawls out.
The parasite fly is about one-half the size of the common house
ffy. It lights on the back of a locust, holds on resolutely and leaves
from three to five red nits.
Says Mr. Arnett in the course of his very interesting series of
observations, for he gave the subject profound attention at every stage:
"I know of no insect that exhibits the cunning of the locust after the
age of five weeks. When very young they appear to have no sense at
all, since they will leap into water or fire, if in their course. At four
weeks they are capable of feats of cunning that would be absolutely
incredible to those who have not watched them. In 1875, after they
had eaten my neighbor's crop on the east, they set out for my field. I
turned water between his field and my own, causing it to flow four or
five feet wide in places, and allowed it to flow to the width of ten to
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 219
fifteen feet through my wheat. This was deemed sufficient to check
their advance, but I soon found the Httle rascals crossing by thousands,
swinging from blade to blade of the wheat that stood in the running
water. I then cut out the wheat, but at the junction of the ditch with
Bear Creek, I left two fence poles in the form of the letter V, the lower
ends crossing near the water of the creek, and the upper ends on either
side of the ditch. Now mark what they did. They soon found a
passage by climbing down a pole fifteen feet long, over the waters of
Bear Creek and up the other pole into my field. They were making
this passage in a continuous stream when I made the discovery, and the
ground and wheat were covered by those that had crossed. I could
give many other examples of their cunning which to me is remarkable
in insect life, but forbear.
"The locust of America is the locust of Joel's time and of the ori-
ental countries, and may have been the cause of the disappearance of the
extinct races of men on this continent. From the time the locusts are
hatched they will move on the earth in bands in the very course they will
fly after being fledged, unless arrested or attracted by the scent of grow-
ing crops. It is known that certain birds will scent fresh blood for long
distances, and it is believed that the locust is endowed with ability to
scent crops or growing grain and vegetables. They will leave wheat or
other grain, and flock from all directions to a hot-bed. The develop-
ment of the locust after hatching until fledged, varies from forty-five to
sixty days, according to what they feed upon, and according to its
abundance. When fledged they remain in the air about five weeks,
apparently without alighting, and don't come down until about the
fertilizing season. In their first flight they often pass over districts,
leaving them comparatively unharmed. Northern Colorado was thus
favored for three years while the center and southern portions suffered
severely. They move in their fixed course with system and regularity
and, to all appearance, in concert and by command of leaders. After
the fertilizing season begins they move forward in a leap-frog movement,
and on an average of about six miles a day."
220 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Here are some experiments made by Mr. Arnett with various
devices for destroying- these insects: "In 1865 I endeavored to discover
how soon the locust would drown. After confining them in water
twelve hours they soon gave evidence of resuscitation when placed in
the sunshine, and in a few minutes began to move. I tried freezing, but
came to the conclusion that they could be frozen up any length of time,
and when exposed again to the warm rays of the sun they would thaw
out and try to emigrate. I tried animal poisons on celery, which the
hoppers prefer to any other vegetable, and after observing the effect,
formed the opinion that they could eat their weight of any animal
poison without the slightest injury. In April, 1875, as soon as they
hatched out I took a can of coal oil with a pan for the purpose of mak-
ing a faggot fire to burn some that had just commenced eating my
wheat. I poured the oil into the pan, and in moving about the pan two
or three leaped into it. They changed color instantly, and to all
appearance were dead. I then forced them in, with the same result.
Sunshine failed to restore life to them. Afterward I tried coal tar with
like effect. Turpentine, alcohol, alkali and croton oil will destroy them ;
indeed, anything that kills vegetable life will produce like effect upon
locusts under the same conditions."
The foregoing extracts from Mr. Arnett's letter are lengthy, and
while perhaps not especially interesting to readers of the present era,
since the State has not been revisited by the awful scourge which
caused such appalling devastation in 1876 and preceding years, will
nevertheless attract some attention in the agricultural districts from the
minuteness and extent of the observations made by this well known and
highly respected authority. It will serve also to exemplify some of the
trials and discouragements which beset the farmers in the first two
decades of their occupation, and may be a guide to others in the years
to come, as we are by no means insured against further visitations of
these insatiable devourers from the North. Again, it will lead the
later residents to a faint conception, at least, of the conditions which
caused many farmers to abandon their holdings in despair, and emigrate
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 221
to more favored lands, and under which the Centennial State was
ushered into the Union, a subject soon to be treated at length. Hence
the introduction of our trials with the locust plague, of whose horrors
none could conceive unless they have had a personal experience here
or elsewhere, would seem to require no apology.
Another cause of more than ordinary importance which operated
to the diversion of our own and other migratory peoples, and conse-
quently to the disadvantage of Colorado in 1874, was the reported dis-
covery of very rich gold mines in the Black Hills of Dakota. The
impelling cause of the interest excited, and which soon induced an
extensive movement in that direction, was a report made by Gen. George
A. Custer, who, by order of the government, traversed and examined
the country in 1874, and gave a glowing report of its resources in gold,
timber, etc., which was emphasized and made infinitely more attractive
by the floating rumor that the famous old mountaineer, trapper and
hunter, Jim Bridger, had found gold there in 1859, while acting as
guide and interpreter to a military exploring party commanded by
Capt. Reynolds. As the story ran, he discovered it in a brook where
he stopped to slake his thirst, and carried the specimens to the officer
in charge, who ordered him to conceal or throw them aw^ay, as, if the
story came to the knowledge of the soldiers, it would cause a stampede.
At that time Bridger was an old man, but still hearty and vigorous,
residing on a farm in Jackson County, Missouri. Traced to its source,
it was found that Capt. Reynolds' expedition had been ordered to
explore the headwaters of the Yellowstone, Missouri and Columbia
Rivers, and passing through the Black Hills en route, one day after
having traveled a long distance, Bridger dismounted from his horse at a
small clear stream and stooped to drink of its crystal water. While in
this position his attention was attracted by the curious appearance of
what seemed to be a lot of small yellow pebbles. Though familiar with
the color of gold, it had never occurred to him that the precious metal
existed in that locality ; but his curiosity impelled him to scoop out a
handful of the stuff, which he exhibited to Dr. Hayden and Capt. Rey-
222 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
nolds. Both at once pronounced it pure gold, and inquired where he
found it. When told, Reynolds became greatly excited, and fearing the
effect upon his men, insisted that Bridger should throw it away and
under no circumstances permit the discovery to be known, as the
knowledge that gold existed there in such abundance and so easy of
access, would cause the soldiers to desert. Bridger, in relating the cir-
cumstance, stated that since his first discovery of the yellow metal in
the Black Hills, he had found it at other places in the same region.
But he cautioned people against going there except in strong, well
armed parties for defense against^ the Sioux, to whom the Hills
belonged, and who were very numerous and would naturally resist the
invasion of their territory.
But the fires had been lighted, and all warnings of danger pro-
duced no other effect than to stimulate emigration. One might as well
attempt to check the force of a tornado by willing it, as to stop a tide
of gold hunters when once set in motion. Soon after the publication
of Custer's report, and the interview with Bridger, the columns began
to march from the North, East, South and West toward the new Eldo-
rado. The newspapers all along the borders teemed with all manner
of exaggerated statements. Small parties entered the hills and began
their explorations. Some of them endured fearful suffering, but it did
not appal thousands of others who had resolved to follow. One of the
first was a party from Sioux City, who found gold there in the winter of
1874-75. The title to the region still remained in the Indians, and the
authorities apprehending a serious conflict, took measures to keep out
intruders, but to no effect. The panic of 1873 had cut loose an
enormous drift of poverty-stricken, restless and discontented people,
who were out of employment and prepared to take desperate chances
for the recuperation of their broken fortunes.
Though Professor Winchell, the geologist who accompanied Custer,
denied the existence of gold, Custer was equally pronounced in asserting
that it was there in paying quantities, and the people preferred his
opinion to the other. The assumed hostility of the Indians deterred no
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 223
one who had decided to take the chances. Sheridan ordered the army
to keep them out, but it could not be done. They continued to pour
in, despite orders and restrictions. The more fortunate of the advance
guard had discovered vakiable mines and worked them, notwitlv
standing mihtary inhibitions, the severity of the winter and danger of
Indian attacks. These men sent back ghttering accounts of the
treasures found there, and they spread all over the land through the
newspapers. Some returned to their homes in the spring, and by the
stories they told, added fresh fuel to the flames of e.xcitement. Com-
panies were forming throughout the West, and in many parts of the
East and South, and soon they appeared at Cheyenne, Fort Laramie
and the Red Cloud Agency, organized and equipped for the final stage
of the long journey.
On the 25th of March, Gen. Sheridan, in a letter to Sherman, said
his first knowledge of the Black Hills and the existence of gold in them,
had been obtained many years before from Father De Smet, a noted
Catholic missionary, whom he met on the Columbia River. De Smet
lived with the Sioux Indians, who showed him nuggets of gold which
they informed him had been found by them in various parts of the Black
Hills of Dakota, and told him also that there was a mountain of it, but
it proved to be only a mountain covered with yellow mica. Custer had
been sent there to establish a military post for the protection of settlers
in Nebraska from raids by the Sioux.
This confirmation, " strong as Holy Writ," on being published set
new columns in motion and rendered all attempts to stop the immi-
gration wholly abortive. A great rush took place in the spring of 1S75,
hundreds going from Colorado and Wyoming, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri
and Illinois.
On the 29th of March, Columbus Delano, Secretary of the Interior,
issued an order citing the fact that a competent geologist had been sent
by the President to explore the region, and if it should be discovered
that the precious metals existed in large quantities, an effort would
be made to extinguish the Indian title, and open the country to
224 HISTORY OF COLORADO
settlers. Meanwhile, no trespassers would be allowed to go in. Those
already there, would be expelled by military force. The War Depart-
ment issued orders to the same effect. Professor Walter P. Janney, a
mining geologist, with a corps of experts escorted by six companies of
cavalry, soon afterward began -his examination. Wherever parties of
miners were found, the troops expelled them. Janney's report proved
unfavorable, when the press, giving full credence to his conclusions,
began to denounce the reported discoveries as wicked canards without
foundation in truth, which caused some of the companies to abandon
their contemplated enterprises. The troops on the ground forbade
people from entering. Meanwhile, hundreds were at different points on
the border anxiously awaiting the issue, for they refused to accept the
unfavorable accounts, nor did they believe the military seriously intended
to keep them out. But some of those who had established camps in the
gold regions, — for it was a fact that gold had been found in paying
quantities, — had been driven out and their property destroyed.
In August, 1875, Richard Irwin, an old Colorado prospector, who
was among the first to enter the Hills, wrote back to his friends here,
that he had made a prospecting trip from the south and southeast, to the
north and back again, covering the region examined by Professor Janney ;
had assisted in the organization of a mining district and located several
claims in one of the paying gulches, where more than a hundred miners
had settled. Another district had been organized at the point subse-
quently designated " Rapid City." He believed it would prove a rich
and extensive mining region. Returning to Colorado, Irwin organized
a strong party for the Black Hills.
In spite of all orders and in defiance of all obstructions, thousands
pushed their way into the new gold region. In the early spring, indeed,
as early as January and February, 1876, they began to gather at Chey-
enne, prepared to force their way, if necessary. They came from all
points of the compass, and among them were many women and children.
Seeing the drift of events, some enterprising people established a stage
line from Cheyenne to the center of attraction, — Custer City. The
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 225
principal discoveries then made were on French, Spring, Castle, Rabbit,
Iron, Whitewood and Deadwood Creeks, the last two seventy-five to
eighty miles northwest of Custer. The Sioux had raided some of the
camps, but were driven off without serious loss. By this time about four
thousand people had located in the different sections. On the 4th of
March, 1876, a large band of Sioux attacked the settlers at Custer City,
driving off their loose stock. At about the same lime they swooped
down upon an emigrant train and killed two men. The settlers formed
in mounted companies and pursued the Indians with the usual result, —
the latter escaped.
The first newspaper was established by A. W. Merrick and W. A.
Laughlin, two well known Colorado printers, and the paper then founded
is still one of the leading journals of that country. During 1S76 most
of the discoveries which gave the region its fame, and out of which grew
the State which was but recently admitted into the Union, and where
have been located and partially opened the only group of workable
deposits of tin ore yet found upon this continent, were made. Several
of the wealthy citizens of Denver, notably Mr. S. N. Wood, cashier of
the First National Bank, accumulated comfortable fortunes at the town
of Deadwood, where were developed the greater part of the more val-
uable deposits of the precious metals.
The foregoing incidents have been narrated for the purpose of fur-
ther exemplifying the trials, discouragements and losses which befel the
people of Colorado during 1S74, '75, '76, and which gave rise to grave
doubts in many minds as to the wisdom of abandoning the Territorial
system for the more expensive luxury of statehood upon which we had
just entered. The rush to the Black Hills occurred just after the whole-
sale destruction of crops for two successive years, and in one of the
darkest periods of our history, ,when we could ill afford the heavy drain
of population from our own industries, or the diversion of our commerce
to a rival point to the northward.
15 II.
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER XI.
Some old reminiscences of the founding of Denver — uncle dick wootten and
HIS exploits on the frontier general WILLIAM LARIMER LUCIEN B. MAX-
WELL AN IDYL of blue lizard GULCH.
It is proper to preface the series of reminiscences subjoined, by the
statement that in the course of my extended researches through old
books, pamphlets, records and files of newspapers in pursuit of data for
this work, much valuable material relating to the history of Colorado in
primitive times has been collected which should have been incorporated
with the chapters relating to that era in the first volume, but was not
then available. Again, within the last six months a number of old
manuscripts, notes and diaries, scrap books, etc., have been supplied
by friends and correspondents in various parts of the country which
contain material that is not only historically valuable but extremely
interesting. The opening sketch of the series is taken from an address
delivered by Mr. O. J. Goldrick July 4th, 1876, a paper of which I had
frequently been apprised, almost at the outset, by numerous friends, but
not one of them could suggest where it was to be found. This address,
accidentally discovered last summer, embraces certain facts which may
lead to the settlement of controversies that are constantly arising among
the original residents of Denver respecting the actual first founders of
the town. Mr. Goldrick was an experienced journalist and a consci-
entious compiler of primitive chronicles, and in this instance took
especial pains to discover and set down the truth. If it shall become
my duty at a future time to publish a second edition of the History of
Colorado, the incidents following will be placed in chronological order
among appropriate chapters of the first volume. If not, my successor is
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 227
hereby advised, if he shall consider them of sufficient value, to make a
similar arrangement of them.
The Green Russell party left the State of Georgia for Cherry
Creek February 9th, 1858, arriving, with its friends, the Cherokees,
at Independence, Missouri, early in May, and at the head of Cherry
Creek June ist. Soon after they had passed through Missouri and
Kansas, companies were formed in those States to follow the trail of the
Georgians, whose purpose in the expedition had become known, and if
possible head them off before they should have staked out and occupied
all the richer gold mines. The first company of Kansans left Lawrence
in May, 1858, and having reached the Arkansas River where Pueblo
now stands, celebrated the Fourth of July, the first observed as a great
national anniversary on that remote frontier.
The Russell party prospected Cherry Creek from its source to its
confluence with the Platte River, but with only moderate success.
Next they examined the auriferous sands and gravels of the Platte for
six or seven miles south to the mouth of the Little Dry Creek. Dissat-
isfied with the results and restless for richer diggings, they crossed the
river near the mouth of Cherry Creek June 24th in the year named
above, and struck out for the North Platte and Green River regions,
but returned to the present site of Denver neither wiser nor richer for
their journey, but more than ever determined to examine Dry Creek
more thoroughly before proceeding further south. As a consequence,
in a very few days they washed out several hundred dollars' worth of
gold. In the meantime, some of the Kansas company had arrived from
beyond the "divide" (Colorado City) and located on the banks of the
Platte near what is now known as Jason Younker's ranch. They and
others who appeared soon after, concluded to build a lot of log cabins
near that point, which they did to the number of twenty during the
months of October and November, and then christened their fledgling
"Montana City." Here they spent the winter of 1858-59, and in the
spring abandoned it for the later settlements springing up on Cherry
Creek.
228 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
By this time fifty to sixty people had located on the creek named,
chiefly Georgians, Kansans and Missourians, with some from Fort
Kearney, Fort Laramie, Camp Floyd and the New Mexican frontier,
who appear to have wandered in this direction more as the result of
accident than design. They had been drifting about here and there on
the plains, neither knowing nor caring whither they went. Some of
this drift arrived here as early as July, 1S58 ; others came in August,
September and October. One of the interminable Smith family who
had lived among the Indians for years and kept a trading post in a tent
at the Cache-la-Poudre, moved up to the crossing of the old Cherokee
trail, now the mouth of Cherry Creek, and became the first "fixture"
who ever claimed a pre-emption right to this section of country. He
had held a monopoly of the Platte Valley market on Mexican flour,
whisky, tobacco, beads and blankets, which were exchanged for beaver
skins, buffalo robes and overland bound live stock.
The first attempt at establishing a town on the present site of
Denver is found recorded in a small memorandum book in these words :
"Upper waters of the South Platte River at the mouth of Cherry Creek, Arapahoe
County, Kansas Territory, Sept. 24th, 1S58.
"This article of agreement witnesseth: That T. C. Dickinson, Wm. McGaa, J. A.
Churchill, William Smith, Frank M. Cobb and Charles Nichols, have entered into the
following agreement, which they bind themselves, their heirs and administrators, execu-
tors, assigns, etc., forever to well and truly carry out the same.
"Aeticle First. Whereas, the aforesaid parties as above, have agreed to lay out
640 acres of land for town purposes, etc., etc."
Then follow a series of by-laws, and a provision for the election of
town officers to be held on the 28th of the same month. Each of the
members was to own several hundred lots, the remainder to be sold to
defray the cost of surveys and improvements. In their agreement there
was a proviso that in case the country ever amounted to anything,
Smith and McGaa should separately claim the fractional, or west side of
the creek, and use their influence to see that it eventually became a part
of the property of the company.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 229
The St. Charles town site thus established, remained chalked out on
paper for five or six weeks without as much as a single shanty being
erected upon it, save a few logs crossed together, with an old wagon
cover for a roof, which had been built by one Henry (Hank) Way, near
the Cherry Creek terminus of Wazee street, in the latter part of
October. This was the first house erected on the site of Denver.
In the meantime, other parties, principally Georgians, including
some Kansas men from the Montana settlement who were not taken
into the St. Charles town company, concluded to locate a town of their
own on the west side of Cherry Creek. Three log cabins with mud
roofs were commenced about October 20th, close to the bank of the
Platte, almost simultaneously by Rosswell C. Hutchins, old John Smith
and A. H. Barker, and soon a street called "Indian Row" gave the settle-
ment a "local habitation and a name." Another cabin was commenced
October 26th by one S. M. Rooker, a renegade Mormon who had
arrived with one wife and family August 30th, and had lived in a tent
during the two months previous. On the 29th of October, during a
severe snowstorm, Blake and Williams' train of wagons laden with
groceries and provisions, arrived from Iowa, and the owners built the
fourth cabin in the west side settlement which had been named
"Auraria," where they opened a store and thereby gave that side of the
creek its first important commercial enterprise. Mr. A. J. Williams of
this firm, is still a resident of Denver. A few days later, Messrs. Kinna
and Nye arrived from Nebraska, located in Auraria and opened the first
tinware and stove store. The next train of goods, flour and groceries,
and the first assortment of drygoods was brought in by Uncle Dick
Wootten from New Mexico, arriving on Christmas day. Wootten's
storeroom twenty by thirty, with clapboard roof and a four light glass
window, was then the largest building in the country.
About the middle of October, old John Smith relinquished his
claim to the west side for a nominal consideration, and a town was pro-
jected by the Georgians and others to be called "Auraria," after a small
mining town in Georgia. A man named Foster began surveying the
230 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
same on the 8th of November. Eight cabins had been built before the
town was laid out. The prospect for Auraria grew more and more
brilliant from day to day, while that of Montana and St. Charles became
correspondingly discouraging. Up to this time no one could be induced
to complete the first roofless cabin in St, Charles, much less to con-
struct a second, notwithstanding an ofTer by Mr. Nichols to donate one
hundred lots to the person who should erect a log tenement on his town
site. Finding his enterprise a failure, since every one who came joined
the colony on the west side, scorning St. Charles, Nichols left for the
States in disgust during the first week in November.
The permanent settlement or organization of Denver, occurred
under the following circumstances: A party of Kansas men, led by
Gen. William Larimer and Richard E. Whitsitt, arrived in Auraria
November i6th, 1858, and on the following day observing that a town
company had been organized on the west side, they crossed the creek
and determined to locate a town of their own on the abandoned site of
St. Charles. Some of the members of this company thought the site
too far from the Platte River to justify locating on such a high and dry
position, but by the persuasion of Mr. Whitsitt all agreed to the enter-
prise, he obligating himself to haul water in buckets for temporary use
until wells could be sunk.
From November 1 7th when the Larimer-Whitsitt Company took
possession and christened it Denver, — in honor of the then acting Gov-
ernor of Kansas, — until November 2 2d, the members were actively
engaged in preparations for building cabins in order to secure their pre-
emption. Few, if any except McGaa and John Smith of the original
St. Charles Company, were then in the neighborhood. A constitution
was adopted November 2 2d and an election of officers for the Denver
City Town Company took place, with the following result : President,
E. P. Stout; Treasurer, Wm. Larimer, Jr.; Secretary, H. P. A. Smith;
Recorder, Peleg T. Bassett.
The trustees chosen were E. P. Stout, William Larimer, Jr.,
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 231
Richard E. Whitsitt, William McGaa, C. A. Lawrence, Hickory
Rogers, William Clancy and Peleg T. Bassett.
On the 30th of November a contract was made with a firm of
engineers, — Curtis & Lowry, — to survey a site of six hundred and forty
acres, and to lay out the main streets. The town company, consisting
of forty-one members (of whom only two, J. H. Dudley and A. J.
Williams remain at this writing, 1S89) each claimed a share of one hun-
dred and forty-six lots. In the summer of 1S59, 1.460 lots were set
apart to the Leavenworth & Pike's Peak Express Company, as an
inducement to locate their offices on the East side (Denver) which the
company rather reluctantly accepted, as most of the inhabitants and busi-
ness were on the West side. Prior to this, Mr. William N. Byers had
declined an offer of twenty lots tendered him to establish his Rocky
Mountain "News" ofifice in the new town. Nevertheless, Whitsitt,
Larimer and the other active members of the company resolved to
make Denver the future great city of the plains and mountains, and
entertained great confidence in their ability to bring about this result.
But it was not accomplished without incessant energy and much shrewd
manoeuvering. Auraria kept well in advance of them until 1861.
Whitsitt was a man of marvelous activity and fertility of resource, pos-
sessing great sagacity and in time of danger, the bravest of the brave ;
true to his friends, and a terror to his enemies, who soon learned that
he was always prepared to fight with any weapon which came first
to hand, and that he was a dangerous adversary to trifle with, yet no
man of his time had more or warmer friends.
Each of the forty-one shareholders was compelled by the terms of
the compact to erect at least one building within the ninety days next
after the organization. From the 1 7th to the 30th of November several
cabins dotted the town site, the first four located as follows : One by
Gen. Larimer on the rear portion of the lots now occupied by the Clay-
ton Block, corner of Fifteenth and Larimer streets ; the second by C. A.
Lawrence, on the corner now occupied by the Pioneer Building, diag-
onally opposite that first named ; the third by P. T. Bassett near the
232 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
corner of Fourteenth and Larimer, and the fourth by Moyn & Rice on
the southeast corner of Larimer and Fifteenth, opposite the Pioneer and
Clayton blocks. In after years Mr. Rice claimed that his building was
commenced November 12th, 1858, and prior to either of those named,
but Gen. Larimer insisted that his was the first to be finished and occu-
pied. It may be well to interpolate here as a matter of some interest,
that in a letter to Mr. Will C. Ferril of this city, dated September 24th,
1889, Mr. W. H. H. Larimer of Kansas City, eldest son of Gen. Lar-
imer, makes the following statement in response to an inquiry on the
subject : " My father and myself were members of the original Denver
town company, and built the first cabin there. My father organized the
company, and was donating agent and treasurer. He gave two lots to
any person who would build a cabin sixteen feet square. I chopped the
logs for our cabin, of which I have a sketch drawn b)- Gen. F. M. Case,
first Surveyor General of Colorado. I was eighteen years old when we
settled on Cherry Creek."
It is sufficient to say, that after the first few houses were started in
Auraria and Denver, the work was enlarged simultaneously by scores of
others in order to fortify their holdings against the rapacity of the con-
stantly increasing immigration. And so the rivalry between the towns
continued, until on New Year day, 1859, there were over twenty cabins
in Denver, and at least fifty in Auraria. Up to this time there were
only three white women in this cheerless country, namely, Mrs. Henry
Murat, from Kansas, who arrived at the Montana settlement November
2d, 1858, and was sheltered in the only cabin then completed at that
point; Mrs. S. M. Rooker from Utah, who reached Auraria August
30th, and Mrs. Dick Wootten, from New Mexico, who arrived in
Auraria on Christmas day. Everything here was uncertain and unstable,
with a long winter ahead, and, with plenty of nothing but poverty and
privation, the pioneers had to make hope the main anchor of their souls.
Without sawmills, not even a whip-saw to cut lumber, with neither nails
nor glass, destitute of tools for constructing the conveniences of life,
these early settlers suffered countless hardships during the first year of
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 233
their sojourn in this desert. The prices of staples were enormous.
Lumber was worth one hundred dollars a thousand feet in 1859, and
extremely scarce at that ; shingle nails cost a dollar a pound ; flour
ranged from twenty to forty dollars per hundred, while sugar, coffee,
tobacco and whisky were at times worth their weight in gold.
The first hotel was erected in February, 1859, <^" ^^^ corner of
Tenth and Larimer streets (West side), by Murat and Smoke and called
the Eldorado. The first blacksmith was Thomas Pollock from New
Mexico ; the first carpenters, Kasserman & Willoughby. The first
bakery was established by Henry Reitze, early in January, 1859, whose
sign read as follows : " Gold dust, flour, dried apples, etc., taken in
exchange for bread and pies."
The first frame house erected in Auraria was built by Dick Wootten
at a point near Sigi's brewery, in June, 1859. Shortly after, the first
sawmill arrived and was established in the pineries near the head of
Cherry Creek. The first child was born on the 3d of March, 1S59,
— the half-breed son of Wm. McGaa, alias "Jack Jones," and the
parents christened him " Denver." The first white child, a girl, was
born to the wife of Henry Humbell, in the autumn of 1859, •" ^ dwelling
at the corner of Tenth and Larimer streets. The mother was presented
with several corner lots for her enterprise in advancing the population
of Auraria, but she considered them worthless, and in 1S63 forsook Col-
orado for Oregon. The first death that occurred was the son of Joseph
Merrival in March, 1859. The city postmasters from the beginning to
1876, were as follows, in the order named : Henry Allen, Mr. Field,
Amos Steck, W. P. McClure, Samuel S. Curtis (D. H. MofTat, Jr.
assistant), William N. Byers, Andrew Sagendorf, Hiram P. Bennett,
David A. Cheever, Edward C. Sumner.
Uncle Dick JVoottcn. — One of the very earliest of our pioneers,
contemporary with the Bents, St. Vrain, Kit Carson and the original
guild of hunters and trappers, and one of the most magnificent figures that
ever trailed an Indian, or trapped a beaver, was born May i6th, 1816,
in Boydton, Mecklinsburg County, Virginia. His parents subsequently
234 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
moved to Kentucky. The subject of this sketch left Kentucky in 1832,
and wandered about through the Southern States until 1835, when he set-
tled on the western border of Missouri. Possessed of an ardent desire to
cross the great mysterious plains, then designated the " American Des-
ert," in April, 1836, an opportunity was afforded him to join a train
belonging to Bent & St. Vrain, bound for Bent's Fort, on the Arkansas
River. After various adventures he arrived at the post, where he found
active employment under its proprietors. Inclined to wander and
explore, notwithstanding the perils which threatened from strolling
bands of Indians, his first expedition brought him to the South Platte
River and on to St. Vrain's Fort, near the foot of Long's Peak, whence
he traveled to the spot where Cheyenne now stands, and then returned
to the starting point, — Bent's Fort, where he soon afterward joined a
trapping party then outfitting for the South Park. In this expedition
he gathered about 1,000 pounds of beaver skins, which were sold to the
traders in furs at seven dollars a pound. Thus supplied with funds, he
purchased a stock of goods, and traded with the Indians during the
season of 1837-38. In the fall of the year last named, he organized a
party of seven trappers and started out to trap on the principal water
courses of the mountains. They crossed the range, passing down into
the beautiful and picturesque classic ground of all hunters and
trappers, the San Luis Park, then a primeval solitude, and followed
the Rio Grande River to its sources in the mountains, where they
found great numbers of beaver. Thence they moved to the head
waters of the San Juan River, and on to the Wahsatch Range, in Utah ;
thence back by way of the North Platte River to the South Fork;
thence through what is now Northern Colorado, across the divide, and
back to Bent's Fort, after having traversed over two thousand miles of
mountainous country during the twelve months of their absence. In
the winter of 1839-40 he, with others at the post, witnessed a furious
battle between the Pawnees (a tribe once the most powerful of all the
plains Indians, but now well nigh extinct), who roamed over the entire
country from the Missouri River westward, fighting their enemies at
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 235
every opportunity, — and a large band of Arapahoes on the Dry
Cimarron, a tributary of the Arkansas. Says Wootten, "The hideous
war paint and trappings of the savages, their horrid yells and war-
whoops, the insulting contortions of face and form when about to
engage an enemy, made the appearance of the combatants both
frightful and intensely disgusting. They fought ferociously and des-
perately, and as it was g. hand to hand engagement in the main, the
weapons used being lances, tomahawks and knives, the scene was
bloody and exciting, as were most of the battles between those tribes."
The Arapahoes were victorious.
The winter following being mild and pleasant, Wootten passed the
time in hunting and trading. In one of his expeditions he passed into
New Mexico, where he purchased a large flock of sheep, which were
driven to Westport, Missouri, and there sold, and the proceeds invested
in cattle, with which he returned to the Valley of the Arkansas. The
next winter he established a camp in a favorable location at a point six
miles above Pueblo, and there cared for his stock. In the spring of
1840 he undertook the experiment, — which subsequently attained some
importance in Texas, — of amalgamating the native buffalo with his
American cows. To procure the buffalo he went down to the plains
where the town of Kit Carson was built in 1870, and there captured
about twenty buffalo calves, with which he returned to his camp, and,
in due time, succeeded in domesticating them. In 1841 a like number
of the same young natives were added to his herd, but the plan failed
of execution for the reason that the buffaloes were sold at a good round
price to an agent representing the Central Park of New York, to which
place they were transplanted, and became objects of great curiosity and
delight to the dwellers in Gotham, and their country visitors.
In the spring of 1841 Wootten joined an expedition for New and
Old Mexico. The intervening regions swarmed with hostile Indians,
with whom they had many sharp conflicts. He returned in due course
to the Arkansas River and became a dealer in live stock. The first
settlement and cultivation of the soil by civilized beings took place in
236 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the spring of 1842, at a point within the present limits of the city of
Pueblo, though prior to this, in 1838, a small patch of corn had been
planted further down the valley, but it was destroyed by Indians. The
first actual settlers who cultivated the soil within the present limits of
Colorado were a party of men named Fisher, Sloan, Spaulding, Kin-
kaid, Beckwith, Slate and Simpson, first names wholly forgotten.
They raised excellent crops of corn, for which, as may well be imagined,
there was a brisk demand.
During the winter of 1S42-43 Wootten acted as dispatch bearer for
Bent & St. Vrain to their numerous outlying posts. In March, 1843,
another agricultural venture occurred in the valley of the Hardscrabble
about thirty miles from Pueblo. Mr. George S. Simpson, years after-
ward a resident of Trinidad, who passed away in 18S8, led this enter-
prise. A considerable tract of good land was put under cultivation,
resulting in bountiful harvests. About the same time a mountaineer
named John Brown located on the Greenhorn, and there erected the
first grist mill, a building of logs, the machinery rude, the burr stones
hewn out of granite. But it answered its purpose. The settlements on
the Arkansas and its affluents, were the resorts of the mountaineers and
trappers, to which they repaired for a season of rest and solid enjoyment
after their long and trying excursions after furs and game. Though
the cabins were rude, built of logs or adobe, and in some cases, formed
by driving pointed stakes into the ground like the ordinary stockade,
with dirt floors and mud roofs, all had generous fireplaces, which, filled
with wood and set aflame, formed scenes of comfort which those rude
men, accustomed to hardship, found a very paradise of luxury, as they
gathered in them when the rough blasts of winter drove them out of the
wildernesses and deprived them of their occupations. " Here," says
Wootten, " I have passed some of the happiest days of my life, telling
and listening to tales of wild and desperate adventures that thrilled my
blood ; tales of hand to hand encounters with savages when the odds
were ten to one against the white man ; of ambuscades and tragic
deaths ; of wrestling with black and grizzly bears ; of wild racing after
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 237
buffaloes, with a thousand incidents of their Hves in hunting and
trapping on the plains and in the mountains, that if put into the hands
of an experienced romancer and published, would have been eagerly
read by thousands."
In the spring of 1844, Wootten with four comrades penetrated the
Grand Canon of the Arkansas, and trapped along the various tributaries
of this river, and on across the great range to the Grand in Middle
Park ; to the Laramie plains, to Green River and the head waters of the
Bear ; westward to the Big Snake, and to the sources of Wind River.
In this expedition they and all their guild were frequently harassed by
Indians. At length, wearied of dodging and fleeing from their savage
enemies, they banded together to the number of fifty, and under a
skillful leader, attacked the main body of their enemy, killed great
numbers and destroyed their movable property. The winter of 1S44-45
was spent in trading among the people of New Mexico. In the
summer of 1845 he abandoned trapping for a time and built a cabin on
the banks of the San Carlos (St. Charles) twelve miles south of Pueblo,
and engaged in cultivating the soil. A few families had settled in the
near neighborhood. The following winter he resumed his old pursuit
of fur bearing animals, and in the spring located at Pueblo, where
twenty-eight Mormon families, with several rather attractive young
women, who had crossed the plains from Missouri, had established their
camp for a. time. Here the mountaineers found inexpressible enjoy-
ment in " flirting with the Mormon girls," the first females of their race
many of them had beheld since they left civilization for the remote
frontier. Wootten relates that he was present in Pueblo, when John
Albert, the only white survivor of the terrible massacre in Taos, when
Governor Charles Bent was assassinated (Albert is now a resident of
Walsenburg, in Huerfano County), arrived there and recited the fearful
experiences of his comrades in that terrible tragedy, and was one of the
volunteers that took part in quelling the rebellion, under command of
Col. Sterling Price.
In 1847 he traded with the Utes along the Raton Range, taking
238 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
tobacco, guns, beads, hunting knives and other goods coveted by the
Indians, receiving in exchange horses and mules, — undoubtedly stolen
from the Mexicans, — buffalo robes, furs and Navajo blankets. Soon
after leaving Pueblo, he and his one companion wandered into a camp
of hostile Apaches supposing them to be Utes, with whom they were
on friendly terms. Fortunately most of the warriors were out hunting,
and only old men and women were in the camp. Realizing their peril,
they retired hastily, seeking as quickly as possible a place that could be
defended by a small force, which they proceeded to fortify against an
attack from the Apache warriors, who were certain to pursue them.
They had an abundance of ammunition and arms, but no provisions.
Here they watched all night, listening intently to every sound, but the
Apaches did not come until daylight, when they swooped down with
blood-curdling yells and war whoops. Wootten and his comrade were
prepared for them and gave them a warm reception. Several Indians
were killed. The savages charged upon them again and again, but
could not dislodge them, and at length retreated, carrying away their
dead and wounded, when the beleaguered trappers made a precipitate
rush out of their temporary fortress, and in a short time found rest,
refreshment and protection in the Ute encampment they were in
search of.
In March, 1848, Wootten took unto himself a wife and settled in
Taos, New Mexico. Soon afterward Col. Fremont arrived ' there with
the broken remnant of his ill-starred expedition across the Sangre de
Cristo, and of which Uncle Dick speaks in terms of profound disgust.
He avers that while Bill Williams was chosen as chief guide to the
expedition, Fremont soon became displeased with him, and thereafter
consulted others whose advice he followed when not in conflict with his
own perverse ideas. After leaving the Arkansas Valley they marched
up Hardscrabble Creek to the Wet Mountain Valley, thence across the
divide which forms the eastern rim of the San Luis Park, and through
the park up the Valley of the Rio Grande to a point not far from the
foot of the Main Range, or Uncompahgre Mountains. Here they
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 239
halted and Williams was asked if he could guide the party across the
mountains direct from this point. Williams said he could not with
safety and believed that any attempt to cross would be very disastrous.
Fremont, however, had made up his mind to risk it in spite of the
warning given by Williams, and proceeded to lead the party over, after
consulting one of the subordinate guides who thought it could be done.
Williams strongly protested against the movement, knowing the result,
telling Fremont that he could pilot them through Cochetopa Pass, or,
still better, through a pass from the head waters of the San Juan, and
thence by the Southern trail to California, but Fremont remained
obdurate and resolved to pursue the course he had laid out under the
direction of another guide named Alexander Gordon. Again Williams
remonstrated in the strongest terms, but was ordered back to the rear
of the column in disgrace. The result has been related in the first
volume.
The survivors, Williams among them, after having recuperated
their energies at a Mexican settlement, started back to the mountains
with a party organized at Taos, to recover if possible, the instruments
and other valuable property scattered along the horrible trail. When
approaching the base of the range, they encountered what they supposed
to be a village of friendly Utes, and rode into it. But the Indians had
been made very angry by a severe chastisement given them by a com-
pany of United States troops a short time before, and when Williams
and his comrades entered their camp they rose up and killed them to
the last man.
Wootten says Williams was sixty years of age when murdered, and
had been on the plains since 1831. He was a skillful, brave and experi-
enced mountaineer, but in some respects a very singular man. He was
born in Kentucky, and in early life had been a Methodist circuit rider ;
had a common school education, but possessed wonderful power and
eloquence in public oratory. Why he left the church and wandered out
among the Indians was never explained.
In 1852 Wootten took a large number of sheep to California via
240 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Middle Park and Grand River ; liad many encounters with Indians
en route, but arrived there in safety. A year later he located on the
Huerfano River near its mouth, built a cabin, laid in a stock of Indian
goods and began trading. This year the immigration from the
Southern States was quite large. In 1S54 the plaza at Pueblo was
inhabited by Mexicans exclusively, some of whom engaged in farming,
but only in a small way. Up to that time it had been occupied and
abandoned several times by Americans, none of whom remained any
great length of time, owing to the hostility of the Indians. It was in
that year the massacre occurred, when all the inhabitants of the fort
were slain by the Utes. The same band afterward went down to attack
Wootten's ranch, but finding him prepared for them, they postponed
their intention, contenting themselves with the capture of a part of his
live stock.
The greater part of 1856 was passed at Pueblo. In the spring of
1857 he moved to a point about seven miles south of Fort Union, New
Mexico, and engaged in freighting supplies from the States to the
different military posts in that Territory, and afterward to General
Johnston's army at Salt Lake. While en route home from the latter
expedition, he sold his train to J. B. Doyle and abandoned the business
forever. On the way to New Mexico in October, 1858, he followed the
South Platte River, coming at length to Cherry Creek, where he found
a little excited settlement of gold hunters, and believing that by the
reports sent abroad from there it would grow into a town of considerable
prominence, he pushed on to his ranch, gathered a stock of goods and
returned to Cherry Creek where, as already related, he built the finest
house in Auraria, on the upper floor of which was published the first
edition of the Rocky Mountain "News." With this movement ended
Uncle Dick Wootten's career as a hunter, trapper, guide and fron-
tiersman, for the frontier had been practically obliterated by the great
immigration which began in force in 1859 and has continued to the
present time, until the American Desert has been peopled and bent to
the ways of modern civilization. In 1S61 he left Denver and began
^d^
25':^^^^
6f
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 241
farming on the Fountain-qui-Bouille, a short distance above Pueblo,
where he remained about four years. A vast change had come upon
the horizon of his long and active career with the transformation of the
country from a trackless waste to the seat of a new empire. In the
wilderness he had been a stalwart leader, of wide renown among his
fellows, a king of beasts and of men, dreaded by his foes, admired and
followed by the bravest of his guild. Now he felt himself an alien and
a stranger among the jostling thousands who came for gold alone.
In 1865 Wootten procured a charter from the legislature of Col-
orado, which authorized him to construct a toll road from Trinidad
through the Raton Pass to a point beyond the summit of the range,
and later, a like concession from the government of New Mexico which
enabled him to complete it to certain towns in that Territory. From
this enterprise he drew, and still obtains considerable revenue. He
owns a fine ranch with deposits of excellent coal, near the summit of
the Raton Mountains, where he years ago fixed his abiding place. He
has a fine large house, and entertains all who come that way, with gen-
erous hospitality. He has been married four times, and up to 1875 had
eight children living.
At last accounts Uncle Dick was in Chicago, arranging for the
publication of his memoirs, that tell all the material details of the years
he has passed on the border, with innumerable romantic incidents, and
which, it is hoped, will soon be given to the public.
General William Larimer, one of the founders of the city of
Denver, and for whom one of its principal streets was named, was a
native of Pennsylvania, a politician of note in that State in early life, one
of the original Abolitionists, and actively supported James Birney for the
presidency in 1840 ; was at one time a candidate for Governor and nar-
rowly escaped an election. Before his emigration to the West he was
engaged in banking, but became seriously involved in railroad building,
which cost him his fortune. In 1S55 he settled in Nebraska just
above the junction of the Platte River with the Missouri, where he laid
out a town and called it "Larimer City." It proved a failure. He then
242 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
removed to Leavenworth, Kansas (1857). In 1858 he united with the
original Kansas party for the Pike's Peak gold region, arriving on
Cherry Creek in October, encamping on the then wholly vacant site of
East Denver, the spot being under a cottonwood tree that stood on
what is now Blake street, near the old Palace theater. As already
stated, he was one of the originators and most active members of the
Denver Town Company. At the outbreak of the Rebellion he ren-
dered valuable assistance in recruiting troops, and was made Colonel of
the Third Colorado Regiment, which, not being filled, was consolidated
with the Second Regiment. He left Denver in 1864, returning to Kan-
sas, where he raised and commanded a regiment of Kansas Volunteers.
He was a kind and generous man, well beloved by all who knew him.
When the Territory of Colorado was organized in 1861, General Lari-
mer's name was presented to President Lincoln for the office of Gov-
ernor, but by the stronger influence brought to bear in favor of Col.
William Gilpin, the latter was chosen.
Gen. Larimer died at his residence in Delaware Township, Kansas,
May 1 6th, 1875, in his 68th year.
Lucien B. Maxwell, known all over the frontier as the owner of the
celebrated "Maxwell grant," was one of the more prominent of American
settlers in Colorado and New Mexico, and notably identified with the
later years of their progress. Maxwell was a pioneer guide, and for
many years a hunter and trapper, contemporary with the Bents, Sub-
lette, Fitzpatrick, Williams, Uncle Dick Wootten and others who won
renown in the years ante-dating the appearance of the present gener-
ation on the field. He was a quiet, thoughtful, reticent man, inflexibly
honest, unassuming, but brave and royally generous, a friend whom
none relied upon in vain. Maxwell acquired great wealth by the
acquisition of the immense tract of valuable land which bore his name,
and which he covered with flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. Born at
Kaskaskia near the Missouri River, he made his first pilgrimage to
New Mexico in 1841, and took up his residence in Taos. In 1844 he
married a daughter of Charles Baubien ; was with one of Fremont's
HISTORY OF COLORADO, 243
expeditions, and subsequently took up hunting and trapping as a means
of subsistence. He purchased the Miranda and Baubien grt^nts in 1847;
built the town of Rayado, that assumed the dignity of a military post
from 1847 to 1S50. In 1857-58 he laid out the town of Cimarron ; sold
the Maxwell grant to J. B. Chaffee and Wilson Waddingham in 1869
and then purchased the site and improvements at Fort Sumner, New
Mexico. Maxwell died at his home near Las Vegas about the ist of
August, 1875.
An Idyl of Bhic Lizai'd Gulch. — Not vouched for, but probably
true, at all events interesting, rescued from an old file of the Rocky
Mountain " News."
Jim Barker, a well-known character who lived at the head of Blue
Lizard Gulch, had been elected a justice of the peace for that section of
El Paso County. Mike Irving was the constable of the court. One
day Jim convened his tribunal of justice to hear the complaint of one
Elder Slater, a peripatetic missionary, who had caused the arrest of one
Zimri Bowles, a resident of the foothills, upon a charge of stealing the
Elder's one-eyed mule. Zimri had been taken by the constable while in
the act of easing the descent of the mule down Mad Gun Mountain by
fastening a lariat to her tail, so the proof against him was conclusive.
After hearing the evidence. Old Jim's mind was sorely perplexed as to
the manner in which the judgment of the court should be pronounced,
but finally sentenced the offender to a term of one year in the peni-
tentiary at Canon City, with the following pathetic conclusion : " An'
now Zim, seein's as how I'm about out of things to eat, an' as you will
have the costs of this here suit to pay, I reckon you'd better take a turn
amongst the foothills with your rifle an' see if you can't pick up some
meat before night, as you can't start for the Big Canon before mornin'."
Zim, awe struck by the majesty of the law, obediently went out as
commanded, and in due course captured and brought in one black-tail
fawn and a jack rabbit, with which commissary stores he reported to the
court the same evening.
Next morniniT the constable, mounted on his broncho, and the
244 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
prisoner astride of Elder Slater's mule, which had been kindly loaned
him for the occasion, started across the mountains for Canon City, where
they arrived the second day out, their animals loaded with deer, antelope
and a small cinnamon bear, shot en route, and which they sold to the
warden. After dividing the money, the officer proceeded to hand
Zimri over to the prison authority on the following rather original
mittimus :
"To the head man of the Colorado prison, down at the foot of the Big Canyon on
the Arkansaw.
" Take notis : Zimri Bouls who comes with this ye're, Stole Elder Slater's one-
eyed mule, an' it was all the mule the Elder had, an' I sentenced Zim officially to one
year in the Colorado prison, an' hated to do it seein' as Zim once stood by me like a
man when the Injuns had me in a tite place, an' arter I sentenced Zim to one year for
stealin' the Elder's mule, my wife Lizzy, who is a kind o' tender hearted critter, cum an'
leaned her arm on my shoulder, an' says she, — ' Father, don't forgit the time when Zim
with his rifle covered our cabin from Granite Mountain, an' saved us from the Ara-
pahoes; an' father, I've heerd ye tell that after ye was wounded at Sand Creek, an'
helpless, it was Zimri's rifle that halted the Injun that was creepin' in the grass to scalp
ye ;' an' there was a tear splash fell on the sentence, an' I changed my mind sudently
as follows: 'Seein's as the mule had but one eye, and want more'n half a mule
at that, you can let Zim go at about six months, an' sooner if the Injuns should git ugly,
an' furthermore, if the Elder should quiet down an' give in any time, I will pardon Zim
out instanter.
"Witness my official hand an' seal, Jim Barker, J. P.
in Blue Lizard Gulch, El Paso County in the Territory."
The upright warden, after informing the constable that he could
not receive the prisoner on that kind of a commitment, explained
to him that Zimri should have given a bond in the sum of about
$300 to appear at the District Court. Accordingly, Mike withdrew
with his prisoner, when it was agreed between them that Zim should
give the constable his bond for the amount mentioned by the warden.
This was done by Zimri's signing his name to an old replevin bond
calling for three hundred dollars, found among the papers handed down
to the officer by his predecessor. Then, as Mike intended returning to
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 245
Blue Lizard Gulch, by way of Pifion Mountain, to examine a bear den
Avhere he had seen a couple of cubs playing the previous spring, he
gave the bond to Zim to take back to the Justice. But Zim on his
return traded the $300 bond to a mountain squatter just in from
Missouri, for a horse, saddle and bridle, and then broke out for parts
unknown.
While the foregoing incident may appear extravagant and wholly
imaginary, it is nevertheless true that the records of some of the earlier
justice's courts contain opinions and judgments that are even more
ludicrous, some of which will appear in due course. Many, indeed most
of such courts, were conducted by men densely ignorant of even the
simplest forms of jurisprudence, and when called to sit in judgment,
formed their conclusions rather with regard to the right of the matters
before them as between man and man, than from the precepts of statutes
which they were utterly unable to comprehend. Their principal busi-
ness was to reach the truth, regardless of technicalities or the pleadings
of counsel, consequently their rulings were frequently original and
unique. If a prisoner were shown to be guilty of murder or theft, the
main idea was to punish him then and there, and not permit the case to
drag along for years. Whatever penalty was decreed it was made the
business of the hour, and promptly executed . If a civil cause, it was
adjusted without appeal. Though their ways were rugged, they were
rarely unjust.
246 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER XII.
Reminiscences continued — french explorations of Colorado and new mexico
IN 1739-40 — lives and characters of col. a. G. BOONE, AND COL. JOHN M.
FRANCISCO — TOM TOBEN's SLAUGHTER OF THE MURDEROUS ESPINOSAS — SOME
recollections OF OLD ZAN HICKLIN AND THE REBELLION OF MACE's HOLE.
I am indebted to Capt. Edward L. Berthoud of Golden, Colorado,
for the translation from an old French publication, of the incidents sub-
joined, extracted from a journal kept by the Mallett Brothers, who
made an exploration of the western part of Louisiana in 1 739-'40 from
the Panimabas River (probably Loup Fork) to Santa F"e, New Mexico,
which states that the company, all French and Canadians, started from
the point named above, May 29th, i 739. Up to that time every one
supposed New Mexico would be reached and found at the head of
the Missouri River. Imbued with this idea, some had gone up the
Missouri to the Ricaree villages, one hundred and fifty leagues above
the Panis (French for Pawnees) villages. The Malletts, however, and
their companions, on the advice of some Indians, took an entirely con-
trary route, the journey beginning in a course nearly parallel with the
Missouri River.
" Leaving on the 29th of May, on June 2d they arrived at a river
which they named 'River Platte.' Here discovering that it seemed
not to deviate from the route selected, they followed it. Passing west-
ward about seventy-two miles, they found it forked, being joined by the
Padouca Fork (South Platte). Crossing the latter, they passed over to
the Republican. On the 20th of June they came to the Smoky Hill.
June 30th they reached a river, probably the Arkansas, above the Purg-
atoire, where they discovered signs of recent visits by Spaniards. Es-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 247
timating at this place that they had traveled about 400 miles, they con-
cluded that this stream must be a branch of the ' Arkansah ' River.
Following the left bank, on July 5th they came to a village of latan
(Comanche) Indians, from whom they obtained some deer. Leaving
the river, on the loth of July they saw the Spanish Peaks. On the
1 2th they reached the foothills; on the 14th came to a stream which
they called Red River, but which they concluded must be a branch of
the Arkansah — probably one of the branches of the Canadian in Colfax
County, New Mexico. About twenty-one leagues further (fifty-four
miles) they reached the first Spanish post, a mission called Picuris.
On the 15th they had given three Indians a letter to the Commander
of Taos, who had sent to them some mutton and excellent bread. One
league before reaching Picuris they were met by a priest, the Com-
mander and a crowd of people, who treated them capitally, ringing bells
and rejoicing. On the 21st they started from Picuris for Santa Fe,
where they arrived on the 2 2d, by their count 265 leagues — about 6S0
miles from the Panimabas. Here they were well treated, but detained
nine months, to hear what the Viceroy of Mexico might determine
should be done for them, a caravan and dispatches being sent yearly to
old Mexico. In the meantime, the French remaining in Santa Fe,
were hospitably entertained, and examined by the French commander.
" At length the answer of the viceroy came, and according to the
Canadians' report, was desirous of engaging with the Canadians to
remain in the country, with the idea of employing them to explore a
country to the west, three months' journey in distance, where men
clothed in silk dwelt in cities on the shores of the sea. Although the
offer was good, our explorers much preferred to return home, which
they were allowed to do.
"The Canadians report that Santa Fe is built of mud, has no fortifi-
cations, and is inhabited by 800 Spanish and half-breed natives. There
are many Indian villages, each with a padre. Eighty soldiers, badly
drilled and armed, form the garrison. There are many mines around
Santa Fe, but they are not worked. Other mines in the province of
248 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
New Mexico are now exploited for the King of Spain, the silver being
sent every year by caravan to Old Mexico. The Governor takes pos-
session of all the merchandise brought to the country, and in that way
monopolizes trade, while the poor priests and others would like to par-
ticipate in this trade.
"On the ist of May, 1740, the party, seven in number, left Santa Fe
intending to find the Mississippi River and go down to New Orleans.
On the 13th three of them separated from the others and went to the
Illinois River. The remainder persisted in their intention to find New
Orleans, which they finally reached in safety."
Capt. Berthoud, in commenting upon this expedition, says : " This
discovery of a route from Nebraska across our present Colorado into
New Mexico, and the return of the seven men to the Illinois River and
to New Orleans, explored a vast scope of country, and animated the
French government of Louisiana to open by Red River, the Canadian
or the Arkansas, a new trading route to Santa Fe and the Western
Ocean."
" In 1 741 the Sieur Fabry de la Bruyere was sent with fifteen men
on a mission westward. He started with the Mallett Brothers, Peter
and Paul, two Canadians and some soldiers, ascending the Arkansas to
the Canadian, thence up the Canadian on the route to Santa Fe.
Water failing them on the Upper Canadian, the party divided and set
out to reach Santa Fe by land. After a series of disasters and mis-
understandings between- Fabry and the Malletts, the expedition failed
of success, and the different members under Fabry, Champort, a ser-
geant of the army, and the Mallett Brothers, returned to Louisiana
without having accomplished their object.
" A French official in Louisiana, the Sieur Hebert, remarks in a
memoir sent to the Navy Council in France, October, 171 7, that the
richest mines are to be found only in the highest mountains of Lou-
isiana; that the mines of New Mexico pcove this, and that by ascending
the Missouri River to its sources, as good as the Spanish mines will
be found The discovery of the rich and extensive mines of Montana
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 249
seems to be a curious confirmation of Hebert's theory, formed in the
early part of the eighteenth century.
" Again, Diron d' Artaguelle, a French officer who had served in
America, unequivocally states in a memoir on Louisiana and its situ-
ation, written at Bayonne, France, May 12, 171 2, that the Arkansah
River was already then known to its head waters, information which
ante-dated the report of Lieut. Pike by ninety-four years."
Colonel Albert Gallatin Boone. — Napoleon Boone, son of Maj.
Daniel Morgan Boone, and direct grandson of the great Kentucky
pioneer, was the first white child born in the Territory of Kansas, August
22d, 1828, his father having been appointed "Farmer" for the Kaw
Indians early in 1827.
Colonel A. G. Boone was born at Greensburg, Kentucky, April
17th, 1806. He also was a grandson of Daniel Boone. His parents
having moved to Missouri, at the age of sixteen he was engaged as clerk
to an Indian trading firm among the Osages of Southwestern Missouri.
In 1824, he became secretary and bookkeeper for Gen. William Ash-
ley's trading expedition to the Rocky Mountains, and with others
encamped on the present site of West Denver. The company comprised
three hundred men. They came up the Platte River. Col. Louis Vas-
quez, who afterward established a trading post at the mouth of Vasquez
Fork (now Clear Creek), as set forth in our first volume, was a member
of the expedition. They passed the winter of i824-'25 hunting and
trapping in the Middle Park and many parts of the mountains of Col-
orado and Wyoming, subsequently passing westward through the
Salt Lake Valley and the mountains thereabouts, and finally to Puget
Sound. In the Wahsatch Range near the present site of Salt Lake
City, Ashley's party encountered under the command of a British Major
named Ogden, a company of trappers in the interest of the Hudson's
Bay Company. The Americans promptly relieved them of their furs and
ordered them off United States territory, back to the British Possessions
where they belonged. In due course Ashley's hunters and trappers
returned to St. Louis with the vast quantities of furs they had gathered.
250 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Col. Boone afterward made several journeys to the Rocky Mount-
ains. He had acquired a pretty thorough knowledge of most of the
Indian tongues; was employed by Gen. Lewis Cass, then Governor of
Michigan and the Indian Territory, in which was included what is now
the State of Wisconsin, in government service among the Indians, where
he remained until 1833. Iri 1S31, he served on the staff of Gen. Henry
Dodge in the Menominee War, and also in the Black Hawk War of
1832-33. In 1849, and until 1855, he had a trading post among the
Osages in Kansas, and built the first warehouse at Westport Landing,
where Kansas City now stands.
In i860, he came to Denver and established a store on Blake street
between F and G (now Fifteenth and Sixteenth) streets. A short time
afterward he was appointed Special Commissioner to negotiate a treaty
with the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians, which he successfully con-
cluded at Bent's Fort, in 1861. This was known as " Boone's Treaty,"
and secured the relinquishment of the Indian title to the lands lying east
of the mountains, for which he was promised by the officers of the
federal government, proper compensation, but it was never paid. Subse-
quently he moved to a point on the Arkansas River now known as
Booneville, twenty miles below Pueblo, where he established his home
and served as postmaster for some years. In 1865 he took a contract
from the government to put up seven hundred tons of hay for the mili-
tary posts, but the officers cut him down to two hundred. He prosecuted
the case, but the claim w^as never paid.
Col. Boone died in Denver, July 14th, 1884, at the residence of his
son-in-law, Mr. B. D. Spencer, 343 California street, aged seventy-eight,
the last of a noble race, and a fit descendant of famous ancestors. He
left five daughters, — Mrs. H. W. Jones, then residing in Pueblo, Mrs.
John Barnes of La Veta, Mrs. Col. Elmer Otis, whose husband was then
commanding the post at San Antonio, Texas, Mrs. B. D. Spencer of
Denver, and Mrs. Capt. Charles Hobart, whose husband w^as then
stationed in Montana. On the last day of his life he was visited by Jim
Baker, the aged mountaineer.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 251
Perhaps no higher tribute could be paid in few words to the life and
character of Col. Boone than that written by his old friend and admirer,
Gen. Bela M. Hughes, who said : " He has been in the service of the
United States in various positions of responsibility on the frontier for fully
half a century, intrusted with important duties as an Indian agent, com-
missioner to treat with the wild tribes on the plains, and as a disbursing
officer of the government, in all of which stations he was distinguished
for his intelligence, fidelity and rare ability as an officer. Col. Boone
possessed all the simplicity of character and manners which marked his
honored grandsire, mingled with unsurpassed courage in danger, and
manly integrity in all his transactions with the government and his fel-
low men. No man in the West was more beloved for his noble qualities
than Col. Boone ; and indeed, it may well be said of him, that true as
he has ever been to his duty as a citizen and a public servant, and in all
the relations of his private life, he stood out as a model for the rising
generation, a man without stain or blemish, without fear and without
reproach."
Col. John M. Francisco* is a prototype of the old school of
Southern gentlemen, who were the lords of the land in the early part of
the present century, and of whom only a few survive. He was born in
the county of Bath, Virginia, near the celebrated Warm Springs, and
emigrated to Missouri in 1836. It is a fact worthy of note in passing,
that most of the pioneers of the West who have been renowned in his-
tory, romance, song and story for the perils they have encountered, for
the battles fought and won, for the trails they made and the expeditions
they guided, were natives of Virginia or Kentucky, and that the road to
their exploits began upon the borders of Missouri. It may be ascribed
to the fact that that State was the seat of the larger fur companies, where
American, Canadian French and Creole voyageurs congregated, and
whence the Chouteaus, Ashley and others who traded with the Indians
of the plains sent out expeditions, and built a cordon of outposts
extending from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains of the north
* See Portrait, Vol. I, page 512.
252 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
and west. It was the center of such .traffic and its representatives of
every grade. The commerce of the prairies had its inception there ;
Pike's, Long's, all of Fremont's, Lewis and Clarke's and the Gunnison
expeditions began in St. Louis, where was the home of the immortal
Benton, who steadfastly aided and encouraged them, and who, pointing
to the West across the plains and mountains, to the Occident, declared
in tones that electrified the nation, "There is the East, there is India!"
In Missouri originated the substantial influence which proclaimed the
necessity of a Pacific railroad, and hammered away at the proposition
with unfaltering energy until it was adopted by Congress, and all but
one of the roads since built have their initial stations within her
borders. The first transcontinental stage lines, and the famous Pony
Express originated there.
In May, 1839, Col. Francisco became interested with three others
in an extensive merchandise train laden with goods for Santa Fe.
There were twenty-five teamsters with the train. They pursued the
established trail, and after numerous harassments from Indians en
route, who frequently attacked them, they arrived in Santa Fe in the
early part of August. The road being comparatively new, they met
with many obstacles, but the exercise of constant vigilance and care took
them through without loss. Francisco returned to Missouri the same
year, where he remained until 1845, when he went to Wisconsin for a
short time. In May, 1848, he started on a second excursion to New
Mexico, this time with a larger party than before. They experienced
some difficulty in repelling bands of hostile aborigines, but accomplished
the distance in sixty days. From Santa Fe he went to Chihuahua,
Old Mexico. Returning in October of the same year, he carried on
various business operations in the northern part of New Mexico.
In 1 85 1 he became sutler to the military station known as Fort
Massachusetts, in the San Luis Valley, where, and at Fort Garland, its
successor, he remained until 1862. His last abiding place was in a
beautiful spot near the head of Cucharas Creek, where he built a fort,
now the center and nucleus of the pretty town of La Veta, a landmark
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 253
which he still occupies, and where his friends find welcome. Among his
old and trusted companions, were Ceran St. Vrain, Lucien Maxwell,
Dick Wootten, Thomas Boggs, Tom Toben, R. B. Willis, Kit Carson,
in short, all the old cohort of pioneers. Of Carson he speaks in the
most exalted terms, saying he was " the most remarkable man, and
doubtless the best frontiersman that America has produced. From
him, in his councils with the Indians, and my frequent travels with
him, I obtained the knowledge of Indian character which was extremely
useful to me on many occasions, in my lonely trips by day and night in
those early and perilous times." Of Tom Toben, " the slayer of the
last of the murderous Espinosas, and who stood side by side with
Carson in many hotly contested engagements with Indians," he speaks
with unqualified praise.
Col. Francisco was nominated for delegate to Congress from Colo-
rado by the Democrats in 1S62, but was unsuccessful, and has not since
engaged actively in politics. When the Denver & Rio Grande Railway
was pushed on to the foot of Veta Pass, the engineers and the builders
found him there, a lonely but satisfied settler in the wilderness, and who
did not fully relish the idea of having his peaceful and beautiful soli-
tude invaded by iron rails and snorting steam horses. But they soon
built up around his comfortable fortress one of the loveliest hamlets in
the State, to which he has now become fully reconciled.
In the fifty years he has passed upon the frontier, battling with all
the rude conditions of such a life, he has lost nothing of the courtliness
of speech and manners which distinguished his progenitors, and which
has distinguished him in a marked degree through all his intercourse
with men. While leading the life of a recluse and a wanderer, apart
from all the refinements of society in which he was born and bred, and
which so many have forgotten, he has never for an instant abandoned
the course and habits of the true gentleman. His home is the center of
bountiful hospitality to all who enter it. His name is as familiar as
household words to every old settler, and thousands of the later gener-
ation. It has been written that character creates confidence in all the
254 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
relations of life. By the excellencies of his character this man has won
the confidence of all men. While he has not achieved remarkable suc-
cesses, he has at least achieved a name that is loved and respected
throughout the land.
Tom Tobcn. In Volume I, page 381, brief mention is made of the
exploit whereby Toben* by his bravery and extraordinary skill in trail-
ing, destroyed the last of the Mexican bandits, whose assassination of
wayfarers along the isolated roads of Southern Colorado, the San Luis
Valley, in Fremont, El Paso and Park counties spread greater con-
sternation among the people than any other event in our annals, because
of the secrecy of their fiendish operations and the impenetrable mystery
which for a long time enveloped the perpetrators, and the motives which
impelled them. A friend who is conversant with the facts, promised
again and again to prepare them for me, but failed to do so, owing to
the pressure of business engagements, hence after waiting until the last
moment, I was compelled to send the volume to press without them. It
was so manifestly unfair to Toben that his part in the heroic work
should be left to stand in history with only the meager details presented,
I applied to Col. J. M. Francisco, his confidential friend and counselor,
and from him received the account related to him by Toben, imme-
diately after the occurrence which forms the basis of this sketch.
Tom Toben was a noted scout, guide, Indian fighter, hunter and
trapper, the greater part of his life having been spent in those pursuits-
He was for some time employed by Col. William Gilpin in trailing
hostile Navajos, away back in the " forties," and later by other military
commanders. He possessed great skill and courage, was a dead shot
with his old muzzle loading rifle ; strong, hardy, inured to every form of
privation, intelligent and cunning, therefore a valuable assistant in the
service to which he was so frequently called. He is an old man now,
his favorite occupation wholly gone with the extinction of game and the
Indians, but still hale and vigorous, passing his last years in the quiet of
his home in the San Luis Valley. While he has had many daring
*Errcn-'ousIy given as ' Tobins." The correct orthography is Toben.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 255
adventures, and been the hero of many thrilling scenes, the one which
brought him greatest fame, and over which all the people rejoiced with
exceeding gladness, though they failed to reward him as he deserved,
was that which is now to be related :
The two Espinosa brothers, natives of Mexico, crazed by religious
fanaticism, ranged along the infrequently traveled roads leading into the
mountains from the southwest, killing every white person with whom
they came in contact. As set forth in our first volume, the principal
actor was slain by Capt. John McCannon's party, but the more agile
brother- escaped, and after concealing himself for a time, reappeared with
a boy, his nephew, and recommenced his career of blood. Governor
Evans and the friends of his victims offered large rewards for the head
of this Espinosa, which induced several parties to search for him. His
whereabouts were discovered by the following circumstance : He and
the boy made an attack upon a man and a woman who were traveling
in a buggy drawn by mules, at a point twelve to fourteen miles from
Fort Garland, near the Sangre de Cristo Pass. The man was an Amer-
ican, the woman a Mexican. The Espinosas fired upon and killed the
mules, evidently not intending to kill the occupants of the vehicle at
that time. The man escaped and fled to the Fort. The woman was
captured, but being of their own race, she was soon released and also
fled to Fort Garland. When the story of the attack and the hiding
place of the outlaws was told, the commanding officer immediately
ordered out a detachment of troops to go in pursuit, engaging Toben as
guide. On reaching the spot where the attack was made, Toben
experienced great difliculty in discovering the trail, as the Espinosas
were on foot, and moccasin shod, but the skill of the old hunter soon
found a farint trace and followed it through the grass, bushes and fallen
timber, a task which none of the party save himself could have accom-
plished. Not a footprint was visible, no sign but an occasional blade of
grass turned from its natural position, a bent or broken twig, had he to
guide him, yet he knew the trail was there. He followed it with the
keen instincts of the bloodhound for several miles, the soldiers close at
256 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
his heels, until he discovered in the air a number of magpies hovering'
about a thicket, as if scenting in its depths preparations for a meal,
which at once advised Toben that the camp of the murderers was close
at hand. He knew the habits of the birds, and the meaning of their
acts and cries. Warning the soldiers to absolute quiet, he threw him-
self upon the ground, and crawling slowly and cautiously so as to give
forth no sound, the soldiers behind him in the same position, he
approached in this manner the thicket, and peering through, discov-
ered the Espinosas in the act of cooking some meat. Turning his head
he whispered back to the of^cer in charge of the men, "I will shoot the
old man ; you and your men take care of the boy," then taking delib-
erate aim at the heart of the elder Espinosa, he fired. The man leaped
into the air with a shriek and instantly fell dead. The boy started to
run. The soldiers fired at him, but without effect, seeing which the
old hunter with marvelous celerity and skill, reloaded his rifle and
instantly dropped the boy. He then rushed into the camp, whipped
out his knife, cut off their heads, and with other trophies found upon the
bodies, marched back to Fort Garland and presented them to the officer
in command.
" The reward offered by the Governor was never paid, to my
knowledge," says Col. Francisco, "and the only thing in my opinion
that Toben ever received, was a silver mounted rifle, donated by private
individuals. The legislature of the Territory endeavored to do some-
thing for him, but what was done, if anything, I am not prepared to
state. His only fault was his recklessness in an Indian fight. While
the enemy was in view he seemed to regard the battle as individually
his own."
In the summer of 1889, Col. George L. Shoup, now and for many
years a resident of Idaho Territory, but from 1861 to 1S64 one of the
bravest officers in the First Regiment of Colorado Volunteers, and who
afterward commanded the Third Regiment of Colorado Cavalry at the
battle of Sand Creek, in recognition of Toben's worth as a man, scout
and guide, but more especially for his distinguished service in ridding
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 257
the world of the bloody butcher of his (Shoup's) brother, who, with a
companion named Binkley, was murdered by the Espinosas in the Red
Hills of the South Park, sent Toben, through Capt. L. V. Cutler, editor
of the "Field and Farm" in Denver, a draft for two hundred dollars.
This, so far as known, is the only substantial reward the heroic Toben
has ever received, except the rifle mentioned by Col. Francisco, but he
is entitled to the everlasting gratitude of the people, and it would seem
that some more fitting appreciation than mere panegyric, should be
granted him, in his old age, and in his poverty.
SOME MEMORIES OF OLD ZAN HICKLIN AND THE REBELLION AT MACE's HOLE.
By the courtesy of Mr. D. Ellis Conner, of Covington, Kentucky,
who was among the first immigrants to the gold regions, and kept a
diary in cxtcnso of the more remarkable incidents of his experiences .
and observations in the Rocky Mountains, I have been furnished a
large collection of manuscript notes, chiefly relating to the original
discoveries of gold in Georgia, French and other gulches thereabouts,
with some stirring incidents of that memorable period, and among them
some personal reminiscences of old Zan Hicklin, and the rebellion at
Mace's Hole, in i86i-'62, all of which he vouches for as being strictly
true.
It appears from these notes that soon after the first news of the
war reached the gulch, and there began to be something of an upheaval
between the opposing parties of secessionists and Union men, Mr.
Conner left the mountains, and proceeded to Hicklin's ranch, which was
the outpost for the rebels who were congregating at the general ren-
dezvous,— "Mace's Hole," where Col. John Heffiner was organizing
a regiment for the Confederate army, and contemplated the capture of
Fort Garland as the beginning of his campaign. He states that at one
time Heffiner had about six hundred men concealed at this rendezvous,
but none of them were uniformed and only a portion supplied with arms.
A government freighter named John Sowers, arrived on Apishapa Creek
in the fall of 1861, in charge of a train laden with bacon and other
17 II.
258 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
supplies for General Canby's troops, but instead of going on, he halted
there for a month, anticipating Canby's defeat by Sibley's Texans, when
he proposed to deliver the stores to the Confederates. But when in
the course of events the tables were turned, he hastened to Fort Union
and delivered them to the Federals.
Conner, while in Georgia Gulch, was offered and accepted the cap-
taincy of a company of Confederate recruits, not that he desired to
enter the army, but merely took this means of getting back to his home
in Kentucky. The recruits gathered in the mountains, separately
repaired to Mace's Hole, or to Zan Hicklin's, by whom they were
directed to the camp. He states that Hicklin guided Federal troops by
day, and drove beef cattle to the rebels by night, and operated for
some time without detection in the Confederate interest. He knew
Hicklin well, but the latter did not know him, nor his purposes.
When the first regiment of Colorado troops marched down to Fort
Union, in response to Canby's call, being poorly supplied, they foraged
upon the country, pressing into service about everything they could
find, and among other movable property, one hundred head of Hicklin's
cattle. But it didn't seem to annoy him at all, he simply remarked that
he was a guide for the Federal troops ; that the government had been
very good to him, had always paid him for his cattle and would do it
again. He made out his bill for the stock and it was paid in due time,
but in some manner nearly all of it escaped the troops, or was aban-
doned by them in their haste, and it came back to Hicklin's ranch.
Old Zan, from this account, selected Mace's Hole as a gathering
place for Heffiner's men. He had two stations, one on the Greenhorn
which he rented to one Dobson, where mails for the United States
troops were received and forwarded. Old Zan moved down the road
half a mile or so, and being a bachelor, built a cabin, corrals for his
stock, employed Mexican peons for herders, and there continued the
business of a stockgrower and farmer. Dobson's nearest neighbor was
Bo. Boyce, on the Huerfano. On the Purgatoire, forty or fifty miles to
the south, resided Jim Gray, Boyce's brother-in-law. All these men
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 259
except Boyce were, in a limited way, employes of the government, but
all rather inclined to sympathize with the South, as they were natives of
that country. Capt. George Madison, under a roving commission from
Gen. Sibley, rode all through the country, and in 1861 captured the
United States mail carrier on the Huerfano, destroying the contents of
his pouches, and throwing his saddle into the creek just above Boyce's
house, where it lay for months. Buckmaster, Sibley's chief of artillery
at the battle of Valverde, was subsequently captured, charged with
robbing the mail carrier, tried and sentenced to be shot, but pending
the execution confined in the military prison at Santa Fe, made his
escape by bribing the guard and fled to Colorado, where he raised
sixteen men in the fall of 1862, with the intention of going to Texas.
Heffiner's regiment was broken up by the Federal troops and
scattered throughout the Territory, most of the leaders being captured.
Conner states that he was at Dobson's ranch when Col. Slough and
some of his men called there in search of rebels, but was neither
recognized nor disturbed. The rest may be told in his own words. He
says, "I went to Boyce, and there procured a Mexican disguise, con-
sisting of a check shirt, overalls, hat and moccasins. Furnished with
secret credentials, I went by night to Dobson's, secreted my old clothes
under a stack of corn husks in the corral, proceeded to the door of the
house and knocked. After some parleying it was opened. I said I was
seeking employment, and was immediately engaged to pull corn.
While there I saw Zan Hicklin daily, and while keeping my own
counsel, speaking but rarely, and then only in answer to questions,
discovered some important secrets. I knew that Col. Slough and his
troops wanted me as a rebel, for my name was on their list, so I kept
as quiet as the grave, attending strictly to my character of a common
laborer in the cornfield, associated with Mexicans. The names of all
who were wanted were given to Dobson and Hicklin, who promised to
look out for them.
"One day the soldiers left a copy of the Rocky Mountain 'News' at
the station. Hicklin, who could neither read nor write, handed it to me
260 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
and asked me if I could read. I said No, though I was planning in my
mind how to secure and take it out to the field, being very anxious to
get the latest information from the war. In the presence of the troops,
Zan jokingly called himself 'Old Secesh,' to disarm suspicion, and by
the manner in which he did it, succeeded in persuading them that he
was loyal to the Union. Hicklin was an excellent judge of human
nature, a keen humorist, and an exceedingly clever actor. He could
play the clown, or the part of a grave, sedate and dignified gentleman
at pleasure. He would laugh and joke at one moment, and be as silent
and stately as a graven image the next. To the soldiers he always put
forward his silly demeanor, and they regarded him as a half-witted
crank, yet he was as cunning as a fox, and when necessary, brave and
resolute. He entertained intense disgust for dainty and well dressed
people who put on airs. To illustrate :
When he kept the station prior to Dobson's coming, two young
men rode up, one well dressed, neat and precise, the other just the
opposite, and asked for a night's lodging, which was promptly granted.
Zan measured them up, and laid his plans accordingly. The nice young
man gave his horse to the Mexican servants to be cared for, while the
coarse, gruff fellow went out to the stable and took care of his own
animal. At the table the dude waited to be helped, while his companion,
disdaining assistance, reached all over the table and helped himself.
Next morning the dude politely asked for his bill, and was told it would
be exactly seven dollars. The rough one, who had just returned from
the stable, made the same inquiry and was charged only a dollar and a
half. ' Surprised at the difference, the first inquired of Hicklin if he had
any objection to explaining why he was charged seven dollars and the
other only one fifty. Old Zan, looking him squarely in the eye, said :
" Certainly not. Your friend rustled around and helped himself, and
it took all the folks about the ranch to wait on you, and then it wa'n't
more'n half done."
On another occasion two gentlemen stopped there for the night.
Just at dusk they espied an old hunter named Jones, a friend of Hicklin's
I
t^-f
,^
ho.
J' / r ,c^ L^.^7<^^-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 261
coming in from the plains on horseback, carrying before him on the
saddle a carcass wrapped in a white sheet. When Jones rode up, Old
Zan, resolved on playing a huge practical joke on the strangers, to whom
he had taken a deep dislike, with a furtive, suspicious manner rushed
out and beckoned him round to the back of the cabin. In an instant
Jones divined that the old man was up to some trickery, and promptly
obeyed the signal. Hicklin took the carcass, which was that of a fine
fat antelope, from the horse, and carrying it to the back room, began a
whispered conference with Jones, and by his mysterious movements
excited the attention of his unwelcome guests, when in a loud whisper,
every word of which was clearly audible to them, he asked, "Why in the
devil's name did you shoot an old scraggy and tough Arapahoe buck
when you know they're not fit to eat at this time of year, and it'll take
as much lard to fry it as the poor old Indian is worth. Why in hell
didn't you get a Ute, as they're all fat and juicy ?"
The strangers took it all in, and knowing nothing of the humorous
propensities of their host, their feelings may be more easily imagined
than described. The conspirators having satisfied themselves that the
scheme would work as intended, i3repared for the next scene in the im-
provised drama. Jones left to put up his horse, and "Old Secesh"
went in to entertain his guests, who were stricken dumb with aston-
ishment and fear. But Hicklin could be fascinatingly polite and agree-
able when he had a pet purpose in view, and on this occasion fairly
outdid himself. His auditors, however, remained frigidly unresponsive;
they were too deeply horrified to talk at all.
In due time supper was announced, and when seated at the rude
table, Old Zan pressed them to partake of some fine antelope, just that
da)- killed, extolling it as the sweetest and most delicious of all game
meats, rattling away glibly about its excellence, etc., etc., but his guests
could not be deluded into eating an old scraggy Arapahoe Indian,
however adroitly disguised, so they remained silent witnesses of the dia-
bolical cannibalism. Old Zan expressed the deepest regret that they
should be indifferent to the rare delicacy offered them, and, as if cudgel-
262 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
ing his brain for a reason, finally hit upon the suggestion that they
were Catholics, and this being Friday, humbly begged pardon for in-
sisting. One of the strangers said Yes, he was a Catholic, but the other
more honest, declared that he wasn't much of a meat eater anyhow.
The upshot of the supper was, that while Old Zan gorged himself with
antelope, the others ate little or nothing. Next morning, after a wake-
ful night, they departed in great haste, evidently glad to escape from
what they believed to be a den of murderers.
On another occasion a spruce young man rode up to the ranch late
in the afternoon, and inquired how far it was to Fort Garland. Hicklin
promptly pointed off toward New Mexico, and said : " Do you see
that big range over thar ?"
The stranger nodded.
"Well, that is about one mile from here, and when you git on that
thar ridge, you will be in sight of the fort, jist on the other edge of a
nice sloping lawn." Then added, "The sun's 'bout 'nour high, and you
can easily make it by dark."
The young man thanked him and rode away, in blissful ignorance
that Fort Garland was forty miles distant by the nearest trail.
Hicklin was generally courteous to his guests, but if he didn't like
them, something was sure to happen before they left. He employed
the mysterious whispering scheme on two other men who stopped with
him, saying to Jones, loud enough to be heard, " Wal, it's no use to
murder them for their money, because all them nice dressy fellows
hardly ever have any, so we might as well let 'em go." The men
silently arose in the night and made what they undoubtedly deemed a
hairbreadth escape from slaughter. Next morning old Zan, who had
witnessed their stealthy proceedings, cautioned Jones to be careful how
he fired into the next herd of antelope, as he might hit the d — d fools
who ran away the night before.
He was accustomed to saying, when talking with trusted friends
and sympathizers, that if the officers in command of the Federal
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 263
forces engaged in fighting the South were as stupid as those he had
seen in Colorado, they couldn't conquer Dixie in a hundred years.
Nevertheless, some of those same officers caught him at last.
After Heffiner's regiment had been dispersed, the federals discovered
traces which pointed directly to Hicklin as their aider and abettor, so
they arrested him, and were making preparations to lock him up, when,
resorting to his most effective jocular tactics, he marched up to the com-
manding officer, and, slapping him on the shoulder, in a low, pleading
voice began :
" Now, Kurnel, you know I ain't no rebel. You got me into this
scrape an' you kin git me out. Now, Kurnel (laughingly), don't go an'
git jellus 'cause me an' my Mexicans made it too hot for them rebels
at Mace's Hole, to stay in the kentry. They seed I was on ther tracks,
an' was about to hunt 'em down, when they got up an' lit out. You'd
never've found 'em in a year, Kurnel. The guvment's always bin good
to me, an' I can do it a heap o' good yet. Now don't git jellus,
Kurnel, fur you kin have all the credit, if me an' my men did run
'em off."
He continued for some time in this strain, when the officer told
him he could get out only on certain conditions.
" Name 'em," says Zan.
Officer. "Why, by taking the oath of allegiance to the United
States, to be a loyal and good citizen, and stick to it."
Zan. "Take what, Kurnel?"
Officer. "Take the oath of allegiance."
Zan. " Wal, now, Kurnel, what kind of a thing is that?"
Officer. "Why, solemnly swear to support the Constitution of
the United States, and not to aid or encourage its enemies."
Zan. " Swar me!" raising his left hand way above his head as
high as he could possibly extend it, and looking both grave and inex-
pressibly foolish.
The officer called a lieutenant to come and swear Hicklin. He
pulled out the long printed ironclad oath, and facing Zan, ordered him
264 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
to hold up his right hand. Up went the left again, higher if possible
than before.
" No, no," said the lieutenant, "put up your right hand," which he
did, but without lowering the left, and thus remained, both hands
pointing skyward, and standing almost on tiptoe, in his effort to get
them high enough, his face the picture of innocence and patience. He
was finally induced to lower the left and listen to the reading of the
oath. At the end, after a moment's silence, drawing a long breath, he
asked :
" Kurnel, does that let me in ?"
Officer. "In to what?''
Zan, "Why, into the Union."
Officer. "Yes, that lets you in."
Zan. "Clear in, Kurnel?"
Officer. "Yes, and see that you live ^ip to it."
Zan. (Joyfully.) "My God, Kurnel, I feel just like I'd got
religion."
Conner's real character and purposes were not known to, nor even
suspected by any one about Hicklin's ranch. He writes: "While
pulling corn one day with a Mexican fellow laborer, I discovered at a
distance out on the road, a man wandering about aimlessly, and thinking
I had seen him before, I went down and boldly accosted him as Buck-
master, Sibley's chief of artillery. He denied it for a time, but finally
admitted his identity. I made an arrangement to go to Te.xas with him
and sixteen companions who were encamped in the mountains above the
Greenhorn, awaiting an opportunity to get out without discovery by the
Federals. I was to meet him at Apishapa Canon, more than sixty
miles away. Soon afterward he passed on, while I went straight up
the creek to Zan Hicklin's house. The old man stood out near the
road looking grave and anxious, as if watching for some one. I said to
him, 'Mr. Hicklin, did Bo Boyce request you to keep a good horse
ready saddled and bridled for any one?' He turned on me with almost
startling suddenness, and with flashing eyes, replied :
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 265
" ' What in h — 11 is that to you, sir ?' then added, ' I suspect you are
one of those Mace's Hole rebels, and if you don't get out of this
country pretty quick, I'll report you to the government.'
Conner. " ' And I will report you to the government for driving
beef cattle and taking other supplies under cover of night to those same
rebels at Mace's Hole.'
" Surprised and indignant, he straightened himself to his full height, — •
he was naturally very tall and slender, — and austerely demanded my name
and business, saying, ' Ain't you the man who has been up to Dobson's
for some time, and that nobody supposed was able to talk ?' I re-
plied, 'Yes, sir, I'm the man,' when he exclaimed, 'I believe you are an
infernal spy, sir !'
"Without further words I quietly drew out a small scrap of paper
covered with hieroglyphics, utterly meaningless to any but those for whom
intended, that had been given me by Boyce, to be delivered to Hicklin
when I should need the horse, and handed it to him. He looked at
the paper, scanned it carefully and then looked searchingly at me, as if
to assure himself there was no mistake about it, then smiled and said,
'You d — d impostor,' adding after a moment, 'Yes, the horse is ready.'
" In ten minutes the animal was at the door equipped for a journey.
It seems he thought that Boyce intended the horse for Buckmaster's
use, for he inquired of me, ' Did you know that Buckmaster was out of
the Santa Fe prison, and is now safe in Colorado ?' I replied that I
had seen and talked with him less than half an hour before, and that I
had arranged to go to Texas with him. Leaving the horse to be fed, I
returned to Dobson's, went to the pile of corn husks in the corral where
my ordinary dress had been secreted, put it on, left my Mexican dis-
guise in its place and went back to Hicklin's. Next morning at day-
light I was on the Purgatoire. On my way I stopped at several
ranches, whose occupants I knew, where, by simply presenting my
cipher credentials, I was cared for. There seemed to be a perfect
understanding of my mission and no questions were asked, except such
as I could readily answer."
266 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Conner did not go to Texas, however, but to Arizona, where he
remained until after the war, and then settled in his old home at Cov-
ington, Kentucky. His notes on early gulching days in Summit County,
will be given at another time.
One other anecdote of Zan Hicklin, and we are done.
At one time when the troops at Fort Garland were suffering from
scufvy for the want of fresh vegetables, the Commandant inquired of
Hicklin if he had any. "Yes, tons of 'em going to waste. Send your
wagon over and I'll load it up for ye," replied Zan, with the merry
twinkle in his eye which always foreshadowed a practical masquerade.
A short time afterward a government wagon with six mules,,
attended by a detachment of soldiers in charge of a sergeant, appeared
at the ranch. Old Zan dismissed the soldiers, telling them to amuse
themselves about the house while he and his Mexicans were loading the
wagon. He took it to the field, and after a time returned with it, the
top ingeniously thatched over with cornstalks and husks, "to protect the
vegetables below," he said. The sergeant thanked him profusely for his
generosity and hospitality, and returned to the post with his precious
consignment of fresh commissary stores. Fancy the astonishment of
all concerned, and the chagrin of the commanding officer, when, the
stalks and husks being removed, nothing was found but a lot of corn in
the ear and — pumpkins.
It was some time before they caught Old Zan again, but when they
did, and charged him with the trick, he meekly replied, " 'Pon honor,
Kurnel, I sent you all the vegetables I had."
A volume of tales might be written of Old Zan Hicklin, for he was.
one of the most noted characters in all Southern Colorado, but these
must suffice for the present. As to the rebellion at Mace's Hole, it was
nipped in the bud by the vigilance of the Federal officers. Some of
the recruits may have joined the Confederate army, but the majority
scattered to the different towns and mining camps in Colorado, New
Mexico and Arizona, their hopes dashed to pieces by the overwhelming;
defeat of Sibley's Texans by the Colorado First Regiment.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 267
The hideous title, " Mace's Hole," given by the old trappers, was
long ago supplanted by the romantic designation, " Beulah," or Pleasant
Land. It is one of the loveliest parks in Southern Colorado, situated at
the debouchure of the San Carlos, or St. Charles River from the mount-
ains. For many years it has been the chief summer resort and water-
ing place of Pueblo and other southern towns, and is second only to
Manitou in picturesqueness, and the number and excellence of its min-
eral springs.
A number of pretty cottages have been built there, the springs
improved, and the romantic spot artificially beautified. In the process
of years, by frequent additions it will be a very charming resort, where
not only tourists bent upon pleasure, but many invalids in search of
health, may find recuperation in the free use of its curative waters,
while the eye is refreshed by the beauty of its environment. The old
generation of hunters and trappers made it one of their principal ren-
dezvous, and the Indians held it in high estimation as a camping
ground.
268 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER XIII.
Preparations for the admission of Colorado into the union — the kill
PASSES the house heavily amended in the senate OBJECTIONS OF EASTERN
PEOPLE SHARP EDITORIAL STRICTURES ON THE COUNTRY PERSISTENT OPPO-
SITION THE LONG FIGHT IN THE SENATE M'COOK'S EFFORTS TO DEFEAT THE
BILL INFLUENCES OPERATING FOR AND AGAINST IT A MIGHTY BATTLE IN THE
HOUSE MR. CHAFFEE'S SPLENDID GENERALSHIP THE MEN WHO CARRIED THE
MEASURE M'COOK RESIGNS AND JOHN L. ROUTT IS APPOINTED GOVERNOR AN
ALLEGORICAL PICTURE COLORADO ADMITTED GATHERING OF POLITICAL HOSTS.
Impelled by the friendly attitude of the President, and the urgency
of the recommendation contained in his message to Congress, Hon.
Jerome B. Chaffee, delegate from the Territory, on the 8th of December,
1873, introduced a bill for an act to enable the people of Colorado to
form a State government, and it was referred to the Committee on Ter-
ritories, of which he was a member. This bill had been very carefully
prepared. It was reported back to the House and passed by that body
without material opposition on the 8th day of June, 1874, and thereafter
sent to the Senate. Then ensued the long vacation.
On the 24th day of February, 1875, at the expiration of the
"morning hour," the Colorado bill was called up as part of the unfin-
ished business of the previous session, taken from the files and con-
sidered in committee of the whole, when Senator Hitchcock, in a brief
but very earnest speech reviewing the internal affairs of the Territory,
its resources, development, etc., urged its passage upon the assumption,
which appeared to be well founded, that the population was nearly
150,000 — an extravagant estimate, by the way, but in the absence of
census figures or any other well authenticated statement, sufficient for
the main purpose, — and as the assumed lack of a large population
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 269
seemed to be the only objection to its admission, and as a number of
States had been accepted with less, it was hoped the bill would pass.
But some of the Senators had been looking up the census returns of
1870, and had found there that in that year the total population of Col-
orado was only about 40,000, hence it was difficult to persuade them
that it had been increased to 150,000 in four years. A lengthy debate
ensued. Senator Sargent of California, between whom and Mr. Chaffee
there existed some acerbity of personal feeling, raised numerous
objections to the measure as it came from the House, and was prepared
with a batch of amendments which he proceeded to offer seriatim.
The first related to the rather munificent land grants provided for, and
also to the section which provided that five per cent, of the proceeds of
sales of public lands in Colorado, which had been or should be sold by
the United States, prior or subsequent to the admission, should be paid
to the State for internal improvements. He then moved to strike out
the provision and leave it to read that five per cent, should be paid
upon lands sold subsequent to said admission. This being agreed to,
he moved to amend the twelfth section by adding a proviso that the
section should not apply to any lands disposed of under the homestead
laws, or any now or hereafter to be reserved for public uses. This
having been agreed to, he moved a further amendment, inserting the
word "agricultural," so as to make it read "five per cent, from the sales
of agricultural lands," and this was agreed to.
Next Senator Hager secured an amendment excepting all mineral
lands from the operation of the act. As if these alterations were not
sufficient. Senator Edmunds offered an amendment providing that the
proclamation to be issued by the Governor, ordering an election of
members of the constitutional convention, should be published within
ninety days next after September ist, 1875, instead of ninety days after
the passage of the bill, and fixing the election to adopt or reject the
constitution for the month of July, 1876, both of which were adopted.
Then Mr. Hager moved to amend the section which provided that fifty
sections of land for public buildings in the State should be selected with
270 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the approval of the President of the United States, and it was agreed
to. Mr. Ingalls of Kansas, moved to amend the 13th section so as to
make section 2378 of the Revised Statutes applicable to the State when
admitted, instead of the act of September, 1841, entitled "An Act to
appropriate the proceeds of the sales of public lands, and to grant pre-
emption rights," etc., etc. Agreed to.
After the rejection of one or two other amendments, the bill, having
been thus overhauled, revised and tinkered to meet the views of the
various objectors, was reported to the Senate and passed, yeas 42, nays,
12. Later, a similar bill drawn by Stephen Elkins, for the admission of
New Mexico, which had passed the House about the same time with the
Colorado bill, was taken up and the amendments attached to the latter
measure were added, on motion of Senator Sargent, when it also passed.
Senators and Representatives from the seaboard States, jealous of
their power and constantly apprehensive of the growing importance of
the West and its encroachments ; regarding Colorado as simply an
ephemeral experiment based upon fictitious representations of its
resources and development, without other material advantages than
small areas where the pursuit of mining yielded only indifferent returns ;
destitute of agricultural lands, and lacking the essential pre-requisite of
a numerous fixed population for the successful establishment and main-
tenance of an independent government, and therefore practically disqual-
ified from exercising the rights and responsibilities of statehood, were
strongly prejudiced against it, and but for the personal endeavors
sagaciously and forcefully put forth by Mr. Chaffee, would have defeated
the measure, as they had several of its predecessors.
To illustrate the intense hostility of the Atlantic States, it may be
mentioned that during the progress of the bill, some of the more influ-
ential newspapers published many sarcastic references to the Territory.
For example, one of the leading journals of Pittsburg observed with
caustic severity, — " Colorado is one of the most intelligent manifestations
of the spirit of Territorial enterprise we have ever had. The discovery
of gold and the profligate scenery of the spot is its entire fortune.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 271
Gen. Denver, in whose honor the capital town is named, is now a
prosaic claim agent in Washington. Colorado consists of Denver, the
Kansas Pacific Railway, and — scenery. The mineral resources of Col-
orado exist in the imagination. The agricultural resources do not exist
at all."
Most of the Western, and a few of the Eastern papers, whose editors
and representatives had acquired some actual knowledge of our con-
ditions, sustained the movement, but the people generally of New York,
New England and Pennsylvania, were unable to divest their minds of a
certain aristocratic, illiberal preconception of the wild, lawless, con-
stantly shifting nature of the inhabitants of lands beyond the Missis-
sippi. Hence, they were, naturally enough, uncompromisingly opposed
to the admission to their rather exclusive family table of mere inchoate
colonies without development, wholly devoid of culture, education, or the
refinements which were necessary to proper recognition and a share in
the privileges, bounties and power that had come to them as a sort of
divine right. A fair reflex of these sentiments was editorially expressed
by one of their periodicals, in this form : " There is not a single good
reason for the admission of Colorado. Indeed, if it were not for the
mines in that mountainous and forbidding region, there would be no
population there at all. The population, such as it is, is made up of a
roving, unsettled horde of adventurers who have no settled homes, there
or elsewhere, and they are there solely because the state of semi -bar-
barism prevalent in that wild country, suits their vagrant habits. There
is something repulsive in the idea that a few handfuls of rough miners
and reckless bushwhackers, numbering less than a hundred thousand,
should have the same representation in the Senate as Pennsylvania, Ohio
and New York, and that these few thousands should have the same
voice in our legislation and administration of the government, as the
millions of other States. A Territorial government is good enough and
effective enough for such unformed communities, and to that they should
be confined for a generation to come," etc., etc.
272 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Similar comments, betraying like ill-nature and deplorable ignorance
of the true state of affairs, appeared from time to time, and by their
influence confirmed and spread the prejudice among the extreme Eastern
States, or as Governor Gilpin is fond of styling them, the "saltwater
despots."
The Colorado bill had to be carried through the Senate, if at all,
toward the close of the short session, as a Republican caucus measure.
Senator Morton of Indiana declared that he and others who shared his
opinion, would fight it to the last extremity unless the President removed
Governor McCook, since the dissensions in the party provoked by his
reappointment and maladministration would inevitably throw the
incoming State into the hands of the Democracy. McCook had very
foolishly declared that if any Republican could be elected, he would
return to Washington as one of the Senators, but he doubted if a Re-
publican legislature could be elected. Morton insisted, and with much
force, that as Governor McCook could, and undoubtedly would create
further formidable divisions in his party, it would prove the Democratic
opportunity to carry the State. The objection was well taken, for the
reason that a Democratic delegate to Congress had been chosen at the
last election as one of the results of the divisions already created. As
politicians, they argued that the Republicans of the Territory having
surrendered to the opposition, their prestige could not be regained in
time, if at all, to prevent the election of two Democratic Senators.
McCook and his adherents fomented discord on every side. Repub-
lican office holders, who had been appointed by Mr. Chaffee's recom-
mendation, were being displaced by new men from the States. Gen.
Grant, though repeatedly importuned to send out a new Governor as the
one measure of salvation to the Enabling act which he had recommended,
and the passage of which he still earnestly desired, hesitated, because it
might be regarded as a virtual admission of his error in making the
appointment, and his insistence on the confirmation, and impliedly a
vindication of Mr. Chaffee's crusade against him.
At length, when he discovered from indisputable evidence that the
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 278
bill could not be passed without the sacrifice of McCook, he yielded to
the entreaties of his best advisers, and demanded his resignation.
Meanwhile, the Governor wrought persistently, though not very effect-
ively, against the bill. His influence lay, not so much in what he was
able to accomplish in Washington, as in the disorders which through
him rent the party in Colorado. It was this which inclined the Dem-
ocrats to favor the bill, and Republicans to oppose it.
Two powerful influences were at work in the Senate and House.
While Mr. Chaffee and his friends were pledging the State to the Re-
publicans, McCook and Mr. T. M. Patterson, who had been elected a
delegate, but was not yet seated, were pledging it to the Democrats.
Mr. Patterson used all the influence he possessed with the members of
his party toward securing their votes for the Enabling act. He stood
as a living illustration of the fact that the Territory had been, and could
be carried by the Democratic party. McCook, on the other hand,
operated as a "free lance," with the design of defeating Chaffee, and
discussed it either way according to the politics or temper of the indi-
vidual he happened to be addressing. Having several times refused to
tender his resignation. Gen. J. A. J. Cresswell, Postmaster-General,
who heartily supported Mr. Chaffee, made frequent attempts to secure
a voluntary abdication by the Governor, and at length it was procured,
when the President brought matters to a satisfactory conclusion by
nominating Col. John L. Routt, then Second Assistant Postmaster-Gen-
eral, upon whom all parties in interest had agreed. Almost imme-
diately after the name reached the Senate, Routt was confirmed, and the
chief obstacle having been thus removed, the Colorado bill passed and
went to the House for concurrence in the amendments.
It is a matter of record that Mr. ChafYee wrought with marvelous
energy and remarkable foresight for the accomplishment of the purpose
to which he had devoted ten years of his life, and the greater part of his
comfortable fortune. He wrestled incessantly with Senators and Rep-
resentatives in this behalf. Senator Morton was heard to say, after the
contest closed, that nothing but Mr. Chaffee's presence on the floor.
274 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
and his very skillful management of the case, prevented its defeat. He
was omnipresent at every stage, vigilant, tireless and strong, over-
looking and directing every movement, managing his well organized
forces with the celerity and precision of a Napoleon in the field.
When the bill passed the Senate, loaded with amendments, it was
taken to the House on Friday, February 26th, when Mr. Chaffee asked
the unanimous consent of the House that the two bills (for the
admission of Colorado and New Mexico) which had been returned from
the Senate with amendments, be taken from the Speaker's table, the
amendments non-concurred in, and that a committee of conference be
appointed. Mr. Randall and Mr. Speer objected, whereupon the
House proceeded to the consideration of several bills then before it,
chief of which was the sundry civil appropriation, which engaged its
attention until five o'clock, when an adjournment was taken until 7:30
p. M., at which time one of the so-called "force bills" for the South was
taken up, but only for debate. This action precluded the possibility of
advancing the Colorado bill or any other measure, since the debate
continued until after midnight. But precious moments were passing.
Mr. Chaffee, nervously anxious to secure an opening somewhere, spent
the intervening time between Saturday night and Monday, March ist,
in mustering all his available Influence and in devising plans for the next
movement. But three days of the session remained, therefore much
rapid and skillful work must be done in that brief interval.
In the morning hour of March ist, after the transaction of some
miscellaneous business, Mr. Ben Butler of Massachusetts moved to
suspend the rules, that the House might proceed to the business on the
Speaker's table, to take therefrom the Civil Rights bill and refer
it to the Judiciary Committee. This motion was intended to remove
that measure from further consideration, as there was no expectation of
passing if, and open the way for our bill. Said Butler, "When this
matter is disposed of, the House can proceed to the Speaker's table and
take up the bills thereon, allowing five minutes debate pro and cou, and
then dispose of them, subject to all points of order." The vigilant parlia-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 275
mentarian Randall, instantly penetrated Butler's ulterior purposes and
objected. Therefore, nothing was accomplished for the friends of Col-
orado that day. The morning of the 2d came and with it renewed
anxiety for the fate of our Enabling act. The hours passed swiftly
without a single point of vantage having been gained until the evening
session, when Butler renewed his motion, but as a two-thirds vote was
required to carry it, and as it failed to receive that number, darkness
came again. The hours swept on until the last day of the session
dawned. It was then that the utmost power of Mr. Chaffee's forces was
brought into action. Each day since the expiration of February had
witnessed a general rush to secure the passage of important measures.
Great confusion prevailed. All the members were on their feet shout-
ing, yelling and wildly gesticulating for recognition. It seemed impos-
sible for the presiding ofificer (Mr. Blaine) skillful as he was in the man-
agement of that body, to bring any sort of order out of the deafening
chaos. Mr. Chaffee had at his command one of the most powerful
combinations ever brought into the halls of Congress, but the difificulty
was to get a two-thirds vote on a motion to suspend the rules, when a
single objection was sufficient to check it. But the time was passing;
only a few hours were left, and he felt that desperate measures must be
taken. He had arranged with the Speaker for recognition whenever
there should be an opening, but no opportunity occurred until after the
morning hour of March 3d, when, after the Deficiency bill had been
passed, Mr. Hoskins of New York, by arrangement, offered a resolution
that "the rules be suspended for the purpose of going to the Speaker's
table and concurring in the Senate Amendments to House bill No. 435
to enable the people of Colorado Territory to form a State government,
and House bill No. 2418, to enable the people of New Mexico to form
a State government." Several attempts to prevent a vote were made,
but at length the yeas and nays were called. Two-thirds not voting in
the affirmative, it was lost. A recess was then taken till 8 o'clock p. m.
Up to this time the two bills had been carried along together,
though under strong remonstrances from man)- members who were
276 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
favorable to Colorado, but unalterably opposed to the admission of New
Mexico. Mr. Chaffee having pledged his influence to Elkins, with
characteristic fidelity to his friends persisted in his efforts to procure its
adoption until the announcement of the last vote, when it became
apparent that both must go down, unless New Mexico was abandoned.
During the recess Chaffee's supporters warned him against further
insistence upon New Mexico. It must be dropped, or Colorado would
not become a State, at that session, and probably not for many years.
The House met at 8 o'clock, when Mr. Ellis H. Roberts of Utica,
New York, moved that the rules be suspended and that the House pro-
ceed to the consideration of bills on the Speaker's table in order,
referring the Civil Rights bill to the Judiciary Committee, and leaving
all points of order in force, and that no bill should be passed except by
unanimous consent, or a vote of two-thirds, and that if asked for, five
minutes' debate be allowed on each side on any bill. Of all the numerous
motions to suspend the rules for the purpose named, this was the only
one which obtained the requisite two-thirds vote. Here, then, was the
only opportunity which had been presented to Chaffee and his coadjutors
for the consummation of their aims, and so they made ready for it. No
obstacles were permitted to stand in their way. The great coalition
prepared at once for a mighty and final effort to carry the bill. Mes-
sengers were dispatched to the Senate Chamber for all the influence that
could be gathered there ; into the committee rooms and cloak rooms ;
into the halls and lobbies; down into the restaurant, to the hotels and
boarding houses of the city. Even the sacred and forbidden precincts
of the enrolling and engrossing rooms were invaded in their mad search
for friends of the bill, and every man brought forth to act when the
time for a vote should come. When gathered, it was a magnificent
force, every man devoted to the pledge he had given. They waited
in almost breathless suspense for the critical moment, each in his place,
ready for instantaneous action.
Under the Roberts' resolution the bills were taken from the table in
order. The few which preceded it on the files having been disposed of,
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 277
mainly without debate, the Colorado bill was called, and the Senate
amendments read, when the rules were suspended, the roll called, the
vote recorded, and, — to the immeasurable joy of its friends, passed.
Soon afterward New Mexico was brought forth, when S. S. Cox of New
York, objected, and the bill failed. It was then nearly midnight of the
last day. Mr. Chaffee, prepared at every point, had procured a careful
enrollment of the bill in advance of its passage, hence, as soon as passed,
it was ready for the signatures of the presiding officers of the Senate
and House, which were immediately obtained, and a few minutes later
the act to enable the people of Colorado to form a State government
was on its way to the President for his approval.
From the day when this measure was brought before the Senate,
where at the outset it met with sufficient opposition to defeat it from
causes already cited, until its final adoption by the House, its supporters,
marshaled by Mr. Chaffee, never lost an opportunity to advance their
cause. It has been stated that much of the opposition by Republican
Senators was due to the dissensions in the party ranks in Colorado,
excited by the removal of Governor Elbert, the reappointment of Mc-
Cook and the attending consequences of the great contest following
these events. The Republicans, apprehending the loss or serious cur-
tailment of their majority in the House -in the coming fall elections, and
having but a small working majority in the Senate, had no inclination to
admit a new State which, by the election of two Democratic Senators
would not only still further reduce their power in that branch, but might
exert a controlling influence upon the next Presidential election, and but
for their confidence in the assurances given them by Mr. Chaft'ee and
others whose statements they trusted, the bill would never have passed
the Senate. Nor was this all. The leading Democrats in Colorado
were constantly, though secretly, advising their political friends in both
houses to pass the bill, as they were certain to carry, not only the Con-
stitutional Convention, but the State elections under it.
Mr. Patterson, who had been elected to succeed Mr. Chaffee as
delegate, had gone down to Washington to exert what influence he
278 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
might possess in the same direction. The Democrats performed their
part quietly and confidentially, so as not to antagonize the Republican
vote, and at the same time to secure every Democrat who could be
induced to favor the passage of the act. Senator Thurman did not
credit their representations, and did not favor the bill, but when the vote
was taken, walked out of the chamber without casting any vote at all.
Samuel J. Randall in the House opposed it all the way through, because
he had no faith in the ability of his party to carry the State.
Routt, as Second Assistant Postmaster General, had been a faithful
and efificient officer. He had fought under Grant during the war, and
when his name was suggested to the President for Governor of Colorado,
Grant sent for and had a long conference with him. He had made
many sterling friends while in the Postoffice Department, among Senators
and Representatives of both political parties, through his courtesy, and
conspicuous favors granted them. He was known to be a good organ-
izer, and an honest man. Added to this was the assurance that, if
appointed Governor, he would devote himself to the reorganization of
the Republican party in Colorado, to the healing of its wounds, to har-
monizing the several discordant factions, and the restoration of its
supremacy, — a pledge which he faithfully kept.
The House of Representatives in the Forty-second Congress con-
tained a large number of young, ambitious and able men. Among
those who soon acquired prominent places in the confidence and esteem
of the strong members and leaders, was Jasper D. Ward of Chicago,
who, as the sequel proved, became one of the most ardent and effective
advocates of the Colorado bill. He had emigrated to the Pike's Peak
gold region among the "pilgrims" of i860, crossing the plains with Major
Jacob Downing, — one of the bravest men, by the way, that ever drew
saber, — in the spring of that memorable year. He engaged in mining
at Black Hawk and Central City, and later in " Buckskin Joe" and Cal-
ifornia Gulch. In the fall he returned to Chicago and canvassed the State
of Illinois for Abraham Lincoln, remaining in the campaign to its close.
He was a lawyer by profession, thoroughly conversant with political his-
^y^/c^ ^A-o^-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 279
tory, an eloquent and convincing sjseaker, capable, under happy circum-
stances, of extremely pleasing and effective oratory. Having heard him
at his best, I speak from personal observation. In 1868 he revisited
Colorado, and made several rather brilliant addresses to the people in
the Territorial campaign of that year. Returning to Chicago, he was
elected to Congress in 1S72, and when Mr. Chaffee introduced his bill
for an enabling act, at once became its champion. He induced Mr. C.
B. Farwell, who was strongly opposed to our admission, to recant and
vote for it, and exerted much the same influence with Mr. Bernard G.
Caulfield of Chicago, and through him and by personal effort several
other influential Democrats were persuaded to support the measure.
James C. Robinson, from the Springfield district, W, R. Morrison, S. S.
Cox, with many others of like political faith, were brought into line.
Mr. Patterson of Colorado, Col. James H. Piatt, representing the
Petersburgh, Virginia, district, L. Cass Carpenter of Columbia, South
Carolina, and Gen. W. T. Clark of Texas (for years Gen. McPherson's
chief of staff), were among those who stood steadfastly by our delegate
in all the struggles of that anxious campaign, and therefore deserve
honorable mention in the history of our State.
But it is uniformly conceded by all the members of the remarkable
combination, that Mr. Chaffee was the controlling and directing leader
in the great parliamentary and strategic battle which insured the for-
tunate result. All agree that it was, unquestionably, one of the most
obstinate and skillfully conducted contests that had ever been witnessed
in the House of Representatives. The labor which this man performed,
the influences which he gathered about him, the skill with which he
organized and managed those influences, and the success achieved under
strenuous opposition, while much of the time suffering from a painful
and dangerous malady, working early and late in defiance of the warnings
of his physician, in some degree define his character and his indomitable
perseverance in every great undertaking that marked his career. By
long association with the politics of the Territory and of the nation,
and by virtue of his wonderful faculty for organizing and energizing the
280 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
work of political campaigns, he became one of the most noted managers
of his time, the recognized leader of his party in the Territory and
State, and the only man who up to the present epoch has combined
within himself all the essential qualities of a successful leader. Yet he
never made a speech which attracted more than ordinary attention until
after his election as Senator, and then from manuscript, — on the Pacific
railroad bill. He was averse to appearing in public assemblies, but at
the head of his well ordered forces in a political combat he was invinc-
ible, looking to the arrangement of every detail, true to his friends, gen-
erous to the last degree, and attached to his cause by the Innate force of
his nature, and by his genial manners, every element about him.
When the decisive vote had been taken and a victory assured, a
relapse occurred, from which he never fully recovered. It was declared
at the time, and was probably true, that McCook endeavored to induce
the President to veto the bill, or leave it unsigned, but without effect.
At twenty minutes to 12 o'clock on the night of March 3d, 1875, Gen.
Grant attached his approval to the act which eventuated in ushering
the Centennial State into the family of States.
The foregoing rather elaborate epitome has been given in order
that the people who now are building one of the more prosperous of
the Western States, may be advised of the struggle under which the
work they are doing was rendered both possible and successful. It is
well to place these events upon record, since they preceded and formed
a part of the mightiest political contest thus far noted in the history of
the nation, and which determined, whether rightfully or otherwise it is
not my province to discuss, the Presidency in 1876, and also that the
splendid results attending our own internal progress may be properly
measured. We have seen that, but for the stupendous energy and
wisely directed ability of Mr. Chaffee and his faithful au.xiliaries, the
Enabling act would have perished through the overwhelming rush for
the adoption of numberless other measures, and it Is extremely
doubtful if the Territory could have been emancipated from its state of
colonial dependence upon the general government for many years, had
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 281
this attempt proven abortive. Ours was the last State admitted, indeed,
the last proposition of the kind to be seriously considered, until the
passage of the " Omnibus bill" at the session of 1SSS-S9, whereby four
Territories were granted the right to form State constitutions, and were
admitted in November, 1889.
Let us now contemplate for a moment the series of events which
succeeded the Enabling act, and resulted in our transmutation from a
Territorial to a higher form of government.
Governor Routt and family arrived in Denver on the 21st day of
March, 1875. Before leaving Washington he, with others, had suc-
ceeded in effecting a reconciliation between Mr. Chaffee and the Presi-
dent. At the conference between them, Gen. Grant admitted that he
had been grossly deceived in regard to the alleged piracy by Moffat
and others on the public lands, and that he had been persistently
wrought upon, by what appeared to be trustworthy evidence of Mr.
Chaffee's collusion with the cabal said to be engaged in a gigantic
scheme of robbery of the public domain. These efforts had been so
long continued, and so ingeniously presented in various forms, he was
at last impelled to take peremptory action in justice to himself and the
country. Mutual explanation brought out the facts, and as a result, the
two became fully reconciled and in the course of years deeply attached
friends, a relation which prevailed with ever increasing warmth to the
close of their lives.
The Governor established temporary headquarters at the Inter-
Ocean hotel, then the principal hostelry of the city, where prominent
citizens of every shade of political belief called and extended to him a
cordial welcome. All were disposed to accord him a generous reception,
since the honorable record he had made for himself in the army and in
official life, his spotless integrity, his honesty and pleasing manners had
preceded him, through private correspondence and the public journals.
The people had become weary of factional wars and enmities, the dis-
cord and confusion which impeded the development of the country, and
were unitedly desirous of carrying into effect the promised change. He
282 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
was sworn into office by Chief-Justice Hallett on the 30th day of March,
1S75, 3-"cl entered immediately upon the discharge of its duties. The
first onerous responsibility that came to him was the necessity of a
thorough reconciliation of the shattered elements of his party, and to
this he addressed himself with, in due time, flattering prospects of suc-
cess. Both political organizations began to take the preliminary steps
toward reorganization, first for a trial of numerical strength at the polls
in the legislative election to occur in the fall, next for supremacy in the
constitutional convention, and finally, for the election of a Repre-
sentative in the Forty-Fourth Congress, and State officers following the
adoption of the Constitution. No one doubted the ratification of that
instrument if it were carefully framed, and the desires of the people met
in its more important provisions. The experience gained in 1864 and
1865 had brought wisdom, therefore it was held to be extremely im-
probable that any serious errors would be committed in constructing-
the fundamental law, since every one knew that it must be substantially
perfect to insure acceptance.
On Sunday morning, April 4th, Stanley G. Fowler, editor of the
"Mirror," published a striking allegorical cartoon representing the cere-
monious introduction of Colorado, the youngest and fairest of the
sisterhood, to Mistress Columbia, the general housekeeper of the Union.
In the foreground stood Delegate Chaffee presenting the beautiful and
blushing maiden to the stately head of the nation. A group of figures,
representing the more ardent friends of the new State, — Gov. Evans,.
William N. Byers, Amos Steck, Gov. Elbert, Hugh Butler, D. H.
MofYat, E. T. Wells, Gen. Bela M. Hughes, Dr. R. G. Buckingham,
Judge Hallett and others stood by, silent but joyful witnesses of the
interesting ceremony. On the left was the Governor's guard arrayed
in brilliant uniforms, standing at "present arms." One of the more
conspicuous features of the picture was an imposing and beautiful arch
upheld on either side by massive pillars of gold and silver, the capitals
crowned on one side by the stalwart figure of a miner, and on the other
by a tiller of the soil. The arch itself bore, in the center, the Colorado
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 283
coat of arms. At a distance in the perspective the Chaffee Li^ht
Artillery was engaged in firing a national salute. To complete the
details, the magnificent sweep of the great Sierra Madre, crowned with
everlasting snow, was graphically pictured, at its feet a lovely landscape
representing the fertile valleys of Clear Creek and the Platte bathed in
sunlight and blossoming with unreaped harvests. Over and above the
enchanting scene sprang a bow of promise, from the apex of Pike's
Peak to the dome of the capitol at Washington. It was a fine con-
ception, and attracted much admiration. The same idea, enlarged and
elaborated by many artistic touches, was transferred to a large canvas
by an eminent painter of the day, and now hangs in the courthouse of
Arapahoe County, having been purchased and presented to the State
by Mr. D. H. Moffat.
On the 28th of April, 1875, the Republican Central Committee,
Joseph C. Wilson, Chairman, met pursuant to call in Masonic Hall at
Colorado Springs. Many of the leading representatives of the party
were present by invitation. The meeting assumed the character of a
general conference, with a view to the discussion of the new issues
growing out of the recent act of Congress, but more especially to the
restoration of harmony. The movement signified unification, the
interment of all differences, and the rearrangement of its columns into a
grand consolidated working force for the business at hand.
Mr. J. Marshall Paul, of Park County, was installed as Chairman, and
Louis Dugal, of Denver, as Secretary. The main purpose of the call
was accomplished without effort. There were no outward evidences of
dissension. An adjournment to Manitou was taken, where the remainder
of the session was held. Those who anticipated a renewal of factional
grievances were disappointed. Several resolutions were adopted, the
first to this effect, "that we are in favor of the organization and
admission of Colorado as a State, and we will use all honorable means
to that end." The following by Mr. Byers, secured a unanimous vote:
Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting the Constitution to be framed for the
State of Colorado should be rigidly non-partisan, and that the election for delegates to
284 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the Convention to prepare said Constitution, and the election upon the adoption of the
same, should avoid party issues.
Resolved, That the polic)- of drawing party lines, or the contrary in the election
affecting the formation of the Constitution and its adoption, be left to the Territorial
Central Committee, as in its judgment may seem best.
Resolved, That the ablest and best men in Colorado should be chosen to draft our
State Constitution for submission to the people.
While the first resolution expressed the sentiments of a majority, it
was deemed advisable, as set forth in the second, to leave the question
to the discretion of the Committee, to act according as the result of its
submission to the opposite party might impel. There were no divisions
upon the general purpose. The result proved that all recognized the
necessity of hearty and unreserved acquiescence in the patriotic endeavor,
first to secure the best constitution that the wisdom of our ablest men
were capable of producing, a charter calculated to endure the mutations
of time, and secondly, to restore the shattered prestige of the Repub-
lican party through decisive majorities at the polls. The first battle to
be fought was in the election of a Territorial legislature, and it was here
that the question, whether the Republicans or the Democrats were in
the majority, was to be determined. This vote would necessarily indi-
cate to a great extent the political complexion of the incoming State
therefore was a matter of great importance.
The Democratic press and the leaders of that party, confident of
their majority as indicated to them by the election of Mr. Patterson,
strenuously advocated strict adherence to part)- nominations for the con-
vention, and for everything else. On the loth of June their central
committee met at the Sargent House in Denver, to consider and an-
nounce the course its party would pursue. Mr. J. B. Fitzpatrick presided,
and Capt. James T. Smith was the Secretary. The first business taken
up referred to the resolutions adopted by the Republicans at Manitou,
a copy of which had been transmitted by Chairman \Mlson for consid-
eration, with the hope that both parties would agree to a non-partisan
constitutional convention. After giving them due attention, the fol-
lowing was adopted :
"^'
*s&^
J^-
/-^i-xy >^^6*^^#^
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 285
ResohcJ, That the Chairman be instructed to respectfully respond to the reso-
lutions of the Republican Central Committee, submitted through its Chairman, that it
is the sense of this Committee that it has no power in the premises to direct the Dem-
ocratic party in the several districts, as to their action in the election of delegates to the
Constitutional Convention.
This was construed to mean a distinct rejection of the proposition.
The battle was to be fought in the open field, each party to muster its
forces as best it could, and try conclusions upon the well-known principles
of political warfare. In order that there should be no room for doubt
as to its intentions, a committee of five, composed of Harley B. Morse
of Gilpin, Judge McFerran of El Paso, Dr. R. G. Buckingham of Ara-
pahoe, Joseph Kenyon of Fremont and W. G. Winburn of Weld, was
appointed to draft an address to the people, conveying the sentiments of
the committee as expressed in its reply to Mr. Wilson, and of the party
at large upon the issues pending. This address made the customary
arraignment of the Republican organization for multiform crimes and
misdemeanors, extending over and embracing and blackening the entire
period of its existence. It is needless to recapitulate the charges, for by
referring back to any of the manifestoes of either party during the fifteen
years after the war, the reader, if sufficiently curious, will discover that
one was but a repetition of the other, chiefly sound and fury, and signi-
fying nothing further than that the " outs " were venomously, eternally
and unalterably hostile to the " ins," and vice versa. But at the close it was
represented, that "the Constitution of Colorado yet to be framed should
be such as to meet the approbation of all the people of the new State,
without regard to party ; that it should reflect the wisdom, ripe experience
and patriotism of its framers ; that it should not be tainted with any par-
tisan feeling or purposes ; that all its provisions should be just, commend-
able in every respect ; in harmony with the principles of our American
system, and that thus constructed it may stand for ages the bulwark of
freedom to the people of Colorado, and a model of sound representative
government worthy of all praise and universal imitation."
Here was a declaration that, standing by itself, evinced a spirit of
286 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
true and lofty patriotism, one upon which there could be no division
among loyal citizens, whatever their political faith. Among the utter-
ances of the time there were none which breathed a purer sentiment, and
had the committee made this the beginning and end of their address, it
should, and probably would have sent their names down to posterity as
among the wisest and best of their time. But they spoiled it by interpo-
lating the declaration that to secure this happy result, and, inferentially,
the only way in which it could be attained, was through " the thorough
organization of the Democratic party throughout the Territory without
delay, to secure the success of Democratic principles and the restoration
of good government."
However, entertaining this opinion from the constant iteration of
false logic and from lifelong afihliation, and believing as they undoubtedly
did that all they proclaimed was true, no milder indictm'ent could have
been expected. It was accepted by their adversary as an unmistakable
challenge and notification that the Democratic party would stand upon
the issue thus joined and force the fighting. A great mass meeting was
held at Guard Hall the same evening, when the policy laid down by the
committee was emphatically indorsed as the policy of the party.
On the 1 6th of June, Chairman Wilson appeared with a sharp
rejoinder, in the form of an address to his party, setting forth the action
taken by each committee upon the proposition for a non-partisan con-
vention, and the willing acceptance by the Republicans of the challenge.
He in turn raked over the record of the Democratic party in terms
bristling with vituperative rhetoric. Both manifestoes were in execrable
taste, both defamatory and untrue, and ill befitting the dignity and intel-
ligence of the parties in whose behalf they were fulminated. Each was
born, however, of an epoch filled with virulence, injustice and all unright-
eousness, the natural heritage perhaps, of the bloodiest and most unwar-
rantable conflict of modern times. There was nothing original and but
little to commend in either address, nor was the campaign seriously
affected by either.
The election for members of the last Territorial legislature
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 287
occurred on the 14th of September, 1875. While there was little or no
excitement, each party endeavored to muster its utmost strength. The
Democrats elected nine members of the Council, or Senate, and the
Republicans four; to the House of Representatives the Republicans
elected sixteen and the Democrats ten, leaving the former but one ma-
jority of the whole number chosen. It will be seen that with this
narrow margin the Republicans could not afford to neglect any oppor-
tunity if they were to win in the succeeding contests.
On the day noted above, Governor Routt issued his proclamation
to the sheriffs of the several counties, notifying them that an election
would be held for delegates to the constitutional convention on
Monday, October 25th, and that the convention would assemble on
Monday, December 20th, in the city of Denver. The Enabling act
required that the apportionment of representatives in that body should
be based upon the election returns of 1874. The plan adopted was to
begin at the northeast corner of the Territory, and designate the dis-
tricts by counties from right to left, and from left to right alternately,
as nearly as the same could be done with due regard to existing con-
ditions. Fractions were grouped together in such manner as to afford
full and proper representation. In no case was the political status of
any county permitted to influence the formation of representative
districts. The Enabling act, as passed in 1875, provided that only
citizens w^ho were qualified electors at the date of its approval should be
eligible to vote or hold office, but Mr. Patterson had, in the meantime,
procured the adoption of an amendment which opened the way to all
who were qualified electors on the day of election.
The campaign was devoid of exciting incident, and only a light
vote was cast, about 5,000 less than at the preceding election. The
Republicans elected twenty-four and the Democrats fifteen delegates.
Each party had nominated some of its ablest men, and as a result the
people secured an admirable charter. The work of the convention, in
the chapter following, has been thoroughly and ably epitomized by
Judge H. P. H. Bromwell.
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER XIV.
The constitutional convention — syllabus of matters to be considered —
condition of the territory members and officers of the convention
organization address of the president questions considered at the
beginning— character of the delegates appointment of committees and
assignments of work reports rendered — ^discussion of the more important
provisions — members who have since been distinguished officers of state
an incident which determined the presidential election of 1876.
A history in full of any convention engaged in the work of framing
an organic law for the creation of a State, must require considerable
space.
This may be readily seen by inspecting the bulky volumes which
record the discussions and acts of those assemblies, whose proceedings
have been reported and published at length. Nor would any part be
entirely devoid of interest, for it would at least exhibit the simultaneous
sentiments and thoughts of many minds, concurring or dissenting upon
the gravest political, social and legal problems which concern the welfare
of a people.
But what is to be attempted here must be confined within very
close limits. In other parts of this history will be traced the social and
political events leading up from the earliest settlements in the wil-
derness of Colorado, to the arrival of the hour for exchanging colonial
dependence for the dignity and security of State government.
This chapter can be nothing more than a syllabus of the principal
matters of a public character, immediately connected with the actual
preparation of the people's charter to the body politic of the incipient
State, now so auspiciously established.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 289
The Constitutional Convention began its work under circumstances
and conditions far more embarrassing than a large majority of our pop-
ulation at present would readily believe.
To establish a State government by a newly settled people in any
of the former Territories east of us, was always an enterprise difficult
enough to test the public spirit and energy, as well as the resources of
the community. But Colorado had a more formidable task than most
of those mentioned. There the new territory lay close beside longer
settled and better furnished regions, and the settlements advanced out-
wardly from these, and by easy stages, into a country similar in soil,
climate and other natural conditions to that left behind.
But here was a population not exceeding in number one hundred
thousand souls, great and small, a large portion of them newly arrived
immigrants, of scanty means ; unused to the peculiar and severe con-
ditions imposed by the climxate and surface formation of the country ;
and dispersed over a vast region, destitute of roads, except in some
limited portions, between the principal settlements and mining camps ;
without bridges for passing the hundreds of mountain torrents and
rivers of fearful current ; while on the parts level and low enough to
allow the cultivation of grain, neither seedtime nor harvest might be
thought of until canals for watering the soil could first be constructed
at enormous expense, compared with the means of the people.
All supplies, whether of metal, hard wood, pottery, leather or cloth-
ing stuffs of any kind, besides the greater part of all kinds of food,
even to the provender of beasts of burden, had been, during twelve
years of the seventeen since the first comers surprised the savages by
the smoke of their camp fires, drawn six or seven hundred miles in
freight wagons, which carried also subsistence for the teamsters ; until
in the year A. D. 1870, a line of railroad six hundred and thirty-
nine miles long, connected Denver, the principal town, with the
Missouri River.
According to the memorial to Congress reported by Gen. B. L.
Carr of Boulder, and adopted by the convention, the Territory ex-
19 11
290 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
ceeding one hundred and three thousand square miles in extent, and
"traversed by numerous ranges of snow-covered mountains, many of
them passable only at widely separated points" was so situated in
respect to communication, "that many of the members of the convention"
were "obliged to travel from four hundred to ten hundred and sixty
miles, crossing several ranges of mountains, at the line of perpetual
snow, in coming to, and returning from the convention, causing an
expense four times greater than would journeys of like distances in the
older States."
But besides these, several special causes combined to obstruct the
establishment of the statehood of Colorado, and also to create fears
that a State government might prove to be an intolerable burden, and
so a grievous disappointment and discouragement to the people, and
deter the incoming of desirable settlers.
These causes tended not only to dampen the ardor of some friends
of the State movement, but to greatly aggravate the perplexity and
difficulty of preparing a constitution desirable and proper for a State
evidently destined to become populous, and notable in material and
social development, which would also conform in frugal economy and
simplicity of administration, to the condition of the commonwealth, in
the earlier stages of its progress.
One of the special causes mentioned, was that the great financial
disturbance known as "The Panic" of 1873, began to produce its dis-
astrous effects as far west as Colorado, early in the year 1874, and had
nearly reached its worst, in the early part of 1876, while the convention
was in session.
The depression in business was very great. Real estate had
fallen in value one-half, and little wonder that it fell, for building was
at a standstill, and communities situated anywhere in growing towns
and cities as those of Colorado, live mostly by building, — its cessation
almost paralyzes more than half the occupations and branches of busi-
ness, directly, and shuts off the means of living from a majority of all
mechanics and other wage workers, and scatters them abroad. Then
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 291
all other business is affected indirectly but severely. Such was the result
in Colorado.
But another, and perhaps a greater cause of disaster, came in at
the same time. It was in the year A. D. 1873, that the Rocky
Mountain locusts (miscalled grasshoppers), equal if not superior in
numbers and power of destruction to their next of kin, the African and
Asiatic locusts, made their second incursion into the settlements of
Colorado.
This was no such thing as the visitation of worms or insects which
occur at times in the States east of us ; for there, though such pests
often work great havoc in crops in different localities, much remains
uninjured ; but the locust takes all.
As said nearly three thousand years ago : "The land before them
is as the Garden of Eden, and behind them a desolate wilderness." It
is known that during the years A. D. i874-'5 ^.nd '6, these creatures com-
ing across the mountain ranges in flocks spreading many miles in width,
and often consuming several days and nights in passing, devoured
everything in the fields which could be eaten, except that a remnant of
the wheat crop of the last two years was saved by various devices ; but
the labor and expense must have exceeded in value all that was saved,
counted at what would have been its market price under ordinary
circumstances.
Most of the marks of the great depression in business have
disappeared, but the records of the courts showing judgments on
money demands long unsatisfied, and the files of the newspapers
crowded with notices of sales on executions, tax sales, and those under
trust deeds and foreclosures, can testify to much that is forgotten.
Perhaps the most striking monument of the stress of the times, is
to be found in the schedules of water rights shown in the filings and
decrees of the courts in settling the priorities of such rights, which show
that on the streams more or less used for irrigation, before, and at that
time and since, the number of canals constructed or enlarged, increased
in number more and more in proportion each year, until the year A. D.
292 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
1874, when such work substantially ceased, and a blank interval
extends to the year 1S7S, when the work began once more, and has
continued hitherto, with great proportional increase in each year.
The members of the convention were elected, and they assembled
when the second season of the "panic" and of the devastation was near
its close, and the election for adopting or rejecting their work, was held
on the first day of July, 1876, in the midst of the third season of the
locust visitation, and then, and on the first of August, next, when the
statehood of Colorado became an accomplished fact, the destruction of
every green thing, even to the seed for another year, was going on to
certain completion.
Yet no appeal for contributions from abroad was heard from the
devastated fields of Colorado, nor did the formation of "Relief Com-
mittees' in the States east of us divert the philanthropic activities of
their people from their usual course, as in many other cases of calamity
befalling other portions of our country.
How the community, especially the dwellers on the thrice desolated
ranches, managed to survive that ordeal, is still an unexplained problem.
But they did, and never sought relief, preferring to renew the "Grass-
hopper mortgages," to calling for succor. They voted for the con-
stitution on the first day of July, and burnt an unusual quantity of
powder on the Fourth, in honor of the one hundredth anniversary of
American Independence, the Union, and "the Centennial State."
A third cause of embarrassment, was the fact that this was the
third attempt to attain to State government. Two constitutional con-
ventions had previously been elected and convened, at great expense,
considering the circumstances, and two constitutions had been prepared
and one adopted, which suffered abortion, — the second one being de-
feated by a presidential veto, after the election of Senators, and their
attendance at Washington several months in reasonable expectation of
being admitted to their seats.
These prior constitutions, however, were prepared, not so much for
permanent use in the government of a State, as for the purpose of
^--^^^^if^^-^^c^-oc^^^^ ^-^d^c?
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 293
securing the admission of tlie Territory to a place in the American
Union.
The convention met with these and other difficulties staring the
members and the community in the face. But the people did not
appear to be much afTected in their determination to launch the ship
of State. In this third attempt they had the assurance of admission,
by an act of Congress in advance, fixing the conditions to be complied
with, and empowering the President to proclaim the admission of the
State ; and this being so, the convention proceeded with full knowledge
of the legal situation present and prospective, to consider the requisites
of a constitution adapted to existing and future conditions, as though
no difificulties of the kind mentioned then existed.
The hardships of the situation, while they alone could not prevent
the accomplishment of so desirable a piece of work, nevertheless added
greatly to the perplexities to be encountered, and j^rotracted the work
of discussing, considering and arraying the many proposed measures
and provisions to which existing circumstances gave rise, which were
urged upon the attention of the assembly from every quarter without,
as well as those brought forward by the members and committees.
But thoroughness was determined on from the beginning.
The members of the convention were Joseph C. Wilson of El Paso,
President ; Casimero Barela and George Boyles, both of Las Animas ;
William E. Beck and Byron L. Carr, both of Boulder ; William M.
Clark and William H. Cushman, both of Clear Creek ; A. D. Cooper of
Fremont; Henry R. Crosby of La Plata; Robert Douglas of El Paso;
Frederick J. Ebert, Clarence P. Elder, and Lewis C. Ellsworth, all of
Arapahoe; Willard B. Felton, of Saguache; Jesus Maria Garcia of Las
Animas; John S. Hough of Bent; Lafayette Head of Conejos; Daniel
Hurd of Arapahoe ; William H. James of Lake ; W^illiam R. Kennedy
of Hinsdale; William Lee of Jefferson; Alvin Marsh of Gilpin; Wil-
liam H. Meyer of Costilla ; S. J. Plumb of Weld ; George E. Pease of
Park; Robert A. Ouillian of Huerfano; Lewis C. Rockwell of Gilpin;
Wilbur F. Stone of Pueblo; William C. Stover of Larimer; Henry C.
294 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Thatcher of Pueblo ; Agapito Vijil of Las Animas ; William W. Web-
ster of Summit ; George G. White of Jefferson ; Ebenezer T. Wells of
Arapahoe ; P. P. Wilcox of Douglas ; John S. Wheeler of Weld ; J. W.
Widderfield of Bent; Abram K. Yount of Larimer; H. P. H. Bromwell
of Arapahoe, — in all thirty-nine.
The officers of the convention were :
President. — Joseph C. Wilson of El Paso.
Secretary. — W. W. Coulson of Boulder.
Assistant Secretary. — Herbert Stanley of Clear Creek.
Second Assistant Secretary. — H. A. Terpenning of Arapahoe.
Enrolling and Engrossing Clerk. — Fred. J. Stanton of Arapahoe.
Assistant Enrolling and Engrossing Clerk. — W\ H. Salisbury of
Arapahoe.
Sergeant at Arms. — A. H. Barker of Arapahoe.
Assistant Sergeant at Arms. — R. A. Kirker* of Park.
Doorkeeper. — Andrew Smidt.
Janitor. — Clay Forbes.
Fireman. — Gavino Pando.
Interpreter. — David Wilkins. (Successor, Dominguez.)
Page. — Robert Freitaz.
An additional page was afterward appointed.
When the convention began its organization, a flurry of politics
arose in the election of officers. The usual caucus preliminaries were
observed. The call for non-partisan and patriotic devotion to the
common weal of the Territory, was loud from both parties on the floor,
and the majority deeming what it esteemed proper political opinions
and affiliation to be the best evidence of patriotism then obtainable, pro-
ceeded to elect its nominated candidates to the several offices, having
first, however, conceded the temporary organization to the minority,
thereby removing the genial Judge Stone from the arena to the dais,
thus weakening the enemy on the floor.
■ Resigned. Office abolished. Mr. Kirker elected Postmaster January 5th.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 295
The contest at first was spirited and "patriotic" on both sides, but
gradually slaclcened, first in animosity, and then in animation, at each
stage of the election, until, when the doorkeeper's turn came, the
majority nominee was elected by acclamation, on motion of a prominent
member of the minority, Mr. Boyles of Las Animas. Thenceforth,
until the final adjournment, no spectator could have supposed, from any-
thing seen or heard in the assembly or in any outer room, that party pol-
itics had ever been so much as dreamed of in the loft of the mansard
roof occupied by the convention.
In fact, a leading Democrat had been elected, on the nomination
of Judge Stone, to the position of Enrolling and Engrossing Clerk (Mr.
F. J. Stanton), an office for which no nomination had been made; and
the chairmanship of the first committee appointed by the President, —
that of reporting what standing committees ought to be raised, — was
awarded to Judge Stone of the minority. The beautiful enrollment of
the constitution, now in the State Department of Colorado, is the work
of Mr. Stanton, — the duplicate sent to Washington was written by Mr.
W. H. Salisbury, — and it is very unlikely that any one of the like
instruments there to be found, is its equal in elegance of execution
throughout.
The majority in the convention claimed to justify their partisan
action, as far as it went, on the ground that the Republican State
Central Committee had first met and resolved in favor of a non-
partisan election of members of the convention, while the Democratic
Central Committee subsequently met and resolved for party nomi-
nations. But several members on both sides had opposed party nomi-
nations at all times, two of whom were Judge Stone and Judge Pease of
the minority, and Judge Beck of the majority spoke and voted in favor
of ignoring party considerations in organizing the convention.
President Wilson on taking the chair, spoke as follows :
"Gen-tle.men of the Convention: — In assuming the duties of the position to
which, through your partiality I have been assigned, I desire to express to you my
sincere thanks for the honor that you have conferred upon me.
296 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
" I assure you that not the least of my regrets is, that I do not bring a greater
ability to the discharge of the important duties intrusted to me. That I will commit
errors I doubt not, — but that they will be willingly and speedily corrected, when informed
of them, if within my power to do so, — I solemnly assure you. I therefore ask you to
extend to me your patient forbearance and considerate indulgence.
" In the performance of all the duties devolving upon me I shall endeavor to so
discharge them as to commend my actions to all, for their impartiality at least, if they
may be deficient in wisdom. There perhaps never was a convention similar to your
honorable body, convened, to whom were intrusted greater or more delicate responsi-
bilities than those which have been intrusted to you. The eyes of not only the people
of Colorado are upon this convention, but the whole nation is watching it, with an
unusual degree of interest.
" It is no part of my duty to dictate to you in any way, as to the course of action
to pursue. I may sa)', however, that as for myself, no act of mine shall be tainted with
the slightest semblance of partisanship or sectional spirit. Here I know no party, but
the entire people, — no section, but the whole Territory.
" And now permit me to cypress the hope, that as we are necessarily compelled to
look to the older Commonwealths for many of the guides to aid in the work before us,
may the result of our labors be such as to produce a constitution for the Centennial
State, which will in all cases hereafter serve as the model for all the people of our
country, who may similarly seek an admission into the proud sisterhood of States."
The sentiments uttered by the President touching duty and devotion
to the common welfare, to the exclusion of all mere party considerations,
met with a hearty response of accord from all the members, and the
implied pledge so given was so truly fulfilled, that at no moment there-
after was the " slightest semblance of partisanship or sectional spirit "
discernible in the deliberations or conclusions of the assembly, or in
aught proposed by any member.
But if the convention when organized, found itself without time,
opportunity or inclination to rethresh the oft cudgeled sheaves of party
politics, the discussion of measures introduced, shortly developed an
earnest majority and minority on several very important issues. Some
of these were settled in a short time ; but others provoked protracted
debate, which at times rose to heated and stubborn contention.
Among these were numerous questions concerning corporations, as
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 297
to what should be the HabiHties of their stockholders toward persons
dealing with the corporation, also toward the State.
The effective control of corporate bodies acting as common car-
riers ; for the protection of the community against extortion, unjust
discriminations, unreasonable methods, vexatious delays, and the like.
The disposition of the public waters of the State, for purposes of
irrigation ; and the power of the State and of the County Boards for the
protection of agricultural interests ; and preventing the waters of public
streams being seized to the uses of monopoly, to the oppression of the
people.
The founding and maintaining of a system of free public schools ;
and protection of the public against impositions by officers and combi-
nations of publishers and agents, in furnishing, dictating and changing
the books to be used.
Protecting the public schools against interference by religious or
ecclesiastical sects. Protection of the school funds against being
diverted to ecclesiastical uses, by means of grants, loans and the like, or
by the distribution of the funds or some part thereof, among schools
under any other authority than that of the State.
The taxation of property used in the whole or part for religious,
educational or charitable purposes.
The payment of salaries to State and county officers ; and turning
over the fees collected, to the State or county treasury, as the case
might be.
Restrictions against indebtedness being improvidently contracted
by the State, counties, cities, towns, and school districts.
Taxation of the property of non-resident persons or corporations.
Disposition of the school lands as to sale or lease thereof ; and
protection of the same from compulsory sale, or sales in the interest of
designing parties.
The extension of the right of suffrage to all persons of lawful age
without distinction of sex.
298 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Doubtless no similar convention assembled in this country has
included in its membership a greater proportionate number of noble
minded and competent persons, — men who never faltered in their task
by day or by night, even in those labors which always must of necessity
attract no attention outside the walls of the committee room, — and if any
member of the body proved himself indifferent or negligent of duty, it
was not for want of abundant examples of energy and devotion to the
work in hand, on the part of a large majority of his colleagues.
It may be said with equal confidence that no convention assembled
in any part of this country, has prepared for its constituents, with equal
dispatch, a more comprehensive or better devised instrument of organic
law, or one more responsive to the peculiar conditions and complications
which beset the situation, whether existing, foreseen or contingent, —
always excepting that incomparable work, the Constitution of the United
States.
Let it be considered that several conventions assembled about the
same time in such long settled and wealthy States as Pennsylvania,
Illinois, and others, where all things had been going on in gradual
development through the lifetime of successive generations, and that
their work as finally presented has been well dee'med in each instance
a very satisfactory result, in view of the time spent in its accomplish-
ment ; and yet in the first mentioned State the time so spent was two
hundred and fifty-seven days ; in the second mentioned, one hundred
and twenty-five days ; while the members of the Colorado Convention
signed their constitution enrolled in duplicate on the eighty-fifth day
of the session, and after preparing a necessary ordinance, adjourned on
the eighty-sixth da)-.
What is said above concerning the convention is equally true of the
committees to whom the principal articles were assigned, as well as to
all others, as far as circumstances permitted, for very few members were
on less than three committees each, and many on four, and their work
shows to-day the evidence of unremitting care and diligence in every
part.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 299
The adjournment of the convention for some ten days shortly after
the appointment of the committees, gave opportunity to such of the
chairmen and others as could devote their attention to the work, to
prepare matter to be laid before their colleagues or the entire body
upon their reassembling, — the committees being scattered as well as the
convention.
The articles concerning the three departments of the State gov-
ernment were severally assigned to committees composed as follows :
The Legislative Department. — Henry C. Thatcher of Pueblo,
Chairman ; William C. Stover of Larimer ; Clarence P. Elder of Ara-
pahoe ; William H. James of Lake ; William H. Meyer of Costilla ; P.
P. Wilcox of Douglas ; William M. Clark of Clear Creek ; George
Boyles of Las Animas, and William H. Cushman of Clear Creek.
The Executive Department. — Clarence P. Elder of Arapahoe,
Chairman; John S. Hough of Bent; William H. James of Lake;
Lafayette Head of Conejos, and George G. White of Jefferson.
The Judiciary Department. — Wilbur F. Stone of Pueblo, Chair-
man ; Ebenezer T. Wells of Arapahoe ; William E. Beck of Boulder ;
Alvin Marsh of Gilpin ; Henry C. Thatcher of Pueblo ; Lewis C. Rock-
well of Gilpin; George G. White of Jefferson; George Boyles of Las
Animas ; William R. Kennedy of Hinsdale ; George E. Pease of Park,
and Willard B. Felton of Saguache.
The other committees were :
Bill of Rights.— K\vm Marsh of Gilpin, Chairman ; J. W. Widder-
field of Bent ; Lafayette Head of Conejos ; Lewis C. Ellsworth of
Arapahoe; John S. Wheeler of Weld.
Right of Suffrage and Elections. — William W. Webster of Summit,
Chairman ; H. P. H. Bromwell of Arapahoe ; Wilbur F. Stone of
Pueblo ; William E. Beck of Boulder, and Agapito Vljil of Las Animas.
Impeachment and Removal from Office. — Henry R. Crosby of La
Plata, Chairman; George G. White of Jefferson; P. P. Wilcox of
Douglas; William H. Meyer of Costilla; Jesus Maria Garcia of, Las
Animas.
300 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Education and Educational Institutions. — Daniel Hurd of Ara-
pahoe, Chairman ; Wilbur F. Stone of Pueblo ; Byron L. Carr of
Boulder; John S. Wheeler of Weld, and Robert Douglas of El Paso.
Public and Private Corporations. — Lewis C. Rockwell of Gilpin,
Chairman ; A. D. Cooper of Fremont ; Lewis C. Ellsworth of Ara-
pahoe ; Henry C. Thatcher of Pueblo ; William W. Webster of Summit ;
John S. Wheeler of Weld; William H. Meyer of Costilla; Robert
Douglas of El Paso, and Casimero Barela of Las Animas.
Revenue and Finance. — William H. Cushman of Clear Creek,
Chairman; Abram K. Yount of Larimer; John S. Hough of Bent;
S. J. Plumb of Weld, and Lewis C. Ellsworth of Arapahoe.
Counties. — George Boyles of Las Animas, Chairman ; William H.
James of Lake; William C. Stover of Larimer; Daniel Hurd of Ara-
pahoe, and S. J. Plumb of Weld.
Officers and Oaths of Office. — Willard B. Felton of Saguache,
Chairman ; Ebenezer T. Wells of Arapahoe ; William Lee of Jefferson ;
Henry R. Crosby of La Plata, and Robert A. Ouillian of Huerfano.
Militai-y Affairs. — Byron L. Carr of Boulder, Chairman ; A. D.
Cooper of Fremont, and George E. Pease of Park.
Mines and Mining. — William M. Clark of Clear Creek, Chairman ;
W^illiam H. James of Lake; William R. Kennedy of Hinsdale; Lewis
C. Rockwell of Gilpin ; Henry R. Crosby of La Plata ; William C.
Stover of Larimer; Frederick J. Ebert of Arapahoe; Byron L. Carr
of Boulder, and William W. Webster of Summit.
Accounts and Expenses, Etc. — Abram K. Yount of Larimer, Chair-
man ; Frederick J. Ebert of Arapahoe, and Casimero Barela of Las
Animas.
State Institutions and Buildings. — Robert Douglas of El Paso,
Chairman; Daniel Hurd of Arapahoe; Robert A. Ouillian of Huer-
fano; William H. Cushman of Clear Creek, and William R. Kennedy
of Hinsdale.
Congressional and Legislative Apportionment. — William E. Beck of
Boulder, Chairman ; Henry C. Thatcher of Pueblo ; Robert A. Ouillian
J2^C.
^^
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 301
of Huerfano; Lewis C. Ellsworth of Arapahoe; George G. White of
Jefferson; William H. Meyer of Costilla; George E. Pease of Park;
William R. Kennedy of Hinsdale, and William M. Clark of Clear
Creek.
Federal Relations. — P. P. W^ilcox of Douglas, Chairman ; George
G. White of Jefferson, and Jesus Maria Garcia of Las Animas.
Future Amendments. — George E. Pease of Park, Chairman;
Clarence P. Elder of Arapahoe ; George Boyles of Las Animas : P. P.
Wilcox of Douglas, and Alvin Marsh of Gilpin.
Revision and Adjustments. — Ebenezer T. Wells of Arapahoe,
Chairman ; H. P. H. Bromwell of Arapahoe ; Byron L. Carr of
Boulder; William Lee of Jefferson, and Lewis C. Rockwell of Gilpin.
Schedule. — Robert A. Ouillian of Huerfano, Chairman; Ebenezer
T. Wells of Arapahoe ; Wilbur F. Stone of Pueblo ; Alvin Marsh of
Gilpin, and Byron L. Carr of Boulder.
Enrolling and Engrossing. — A. D. Cooper of Fremont, Chairman;
Henry R. Crosby of La Plata, and J. W. Widderfield of Bent.
Miscellaneous.- — Lafayette Head of Conejos, Chairman; William E.
Beck of Boulder; Jesus Maria Garcia of Las Animas ; William Lee of
Jefferson, and Clarence P. Elder of Arapahoe.
State, County and Municipal Indebtedness. — H. P. H. Bromwell of
Arapahoe, Chairman; William H. Cushman of Clear Creek; John S.
Hough of Bent ; Robert Douglas of El Paso, and Abram K. Yount of
Larimer.
Forest Culture. — Frederick J. Ebert of Arapahoe, Chairman ; Wil-
lard B. Felton of Saguache, and William C. Stover of Larimer.
If the work of the principal committees was at all times onerous
and often discouraging, the most vexatious because the most thankless
task, doubtless fell upon the committee charged with the article con-
cerning the Judiciary Department. Yet they never faltered in deter-
mination, but were laborious and astute in devising and considering
plans of every practicable description, and never halted as long as a
scrap of benefit could be secured to the judicial system of the State.
302 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
But it is of the nature of that subject that whosoever labors in the
task of reducing any proposed system to practical operation, comes
sooner or later to learn that no department of public affairs presents
such obstacles to the designer. The immense expense which under the
most favorable conditions it entails upon the State, the county and the
people, is the cause of this. For the officers who may be termed first-
class, as judges of the Supreme and Superior Courts, alone outnumber
all the executive State officers, and beside these are the judges of inferior
and limited jurisdiction, — all officers of the Supreme and other courts,
including sheriffs, deputies, bailiffs, referees, clerks and deputies,
together with justices and constables, jurors, grand jurors and witnesses,
in all the counties ; also prosecuting attorneys and their deputies, all of
whom are necessary in carrying on its ' multitudinous functions, and
their compensation requires great outlay. And beside this, is the time
consumed by litigants, and much loss by jurors and witnesses in com-
pulsory attendance at inconvenient times, as to them. All these causes
of expense have always prevented establishing the judiciary upon a
sufficiently ample scale to insure prompt administration. Much more is
it so of late years, when the increase of business and consequent litigation,
and the countless multitude of changing and ill considered laws, con-
tinually and greatly outruns the increase of population and of public
means.
The report of the Committee on "Bill of Rights" (Mr. Marsh
chairman), was the first ready for presentation to the convention, viz.,
on the 8th of January, and was laid before that body on the tenth day of
January, and was under discussion on the fifteenth day of actual sitting
of the convention. It was very thoroughly prepared, and contained pro-
visions not to be found in any other constitution.
The Committee on the Executive Department (Mr. Elder chair-
man) was the first of the three charged with the articles on the Govern-
mental Department, to report. The chairman during the recess of the
convention had devoted to that particular subject the same ceaseless
attention and sagacity which he had bestowed on the entire work, from
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 303
the time of the election of the members, and his committee was able to
present a draft of the Executive Article on the ninth day after the reas-
sembling of the convention, the 14th of January, and it was under
discussion on the 17th of January.
The committees on the other two departments of course could not
possibly and profitably proceed so rapidly, for their several tasks
involved a greater multiplicity of diverse matters, many of which were
the subjects of widely different views, both in the convention and among
the people throughout the Territory.
The report of the Committee on Forest Culture (Mr. Ebert chair-
man), and that of the Committee on State Institutions and Buildings
(Mr. Douglas) came in shortly after, followed by the report on State,
County and Municipal Indebtedness (Bromwell) on the 28th of January,
and the report of the Committee on the Legislative Department was
then before the convention, and with others on their career of transmi-
gration through committee of the whole, the convention itself, and back
again to the proper committee and so on to the end, as further deliber-
ation brought out the necessity of further provisions and amendments.
Following these came in succession, the report on Future Amend-
ments (Pease), — on Counties (Boyles), — Education and Educational
Institutions (Hurd), Mines and Mining (Clark), until on Friday, Feb-
ruary 4th, when the Committee on the Judiciary Department made their
report, which was placed on the gridiron of the Committee of the Whole.
Then followed the reports of the Committee on Federal Relations
(Wilcox), — Right of Suffrage and Elections (Webster), — Impeachments
and Removals from Office (Crosby), — Schedule (Ouillian), — Irrigation,
Agriculture and Manufactures (Plumb), — Corporations, Public and
Private (Rockwell), — Revenue and Finance (Cushman), — Miscellaneous
(Head), — Officers and Oaths of Office (Felton), until all were in, except
that the reports of those committees which must report from time to
time, as the Committee on Revision and others, are not mentioned here.
As to the work done by the principal committees, it was constant
and continued to the last, but it must be borne in mind that every mem-
304 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
ber of any Committee was also a member of from two to four other
committees ; and this fact renders the difference in date of the different
reports of less significance than if the case had been otherwise, — the
work having been so distributed that the members had to shift from one
committee to another, and at the same time so managed that every
report was ready as soon as wanted. As one set of committees
became more or less relieved, in other committees the work was more
and more increased ; but as to the members, such changes miostly were
nothing more than a change of work, and often an increase thereof.
Thus for instance, the chairman and members of the committees on Bill
of Rights and Executive Department, were on other equally important
committees, as may be seen on inspection of the list of committees given
above.
As in other cases of making constitutions, the framers of our con-
stitution, doubtless in some particulars " builded wiser than they knew,"
and in some other matters not so wisely as they hoped, yet it is due to
the leaders in the majority which ruled in each case, to say here, first, that
most things in which their action stands well approved to-day, in the
light of further experience, are positive enactments ; and the few
instances in which fault may now be alleged, are matters of omission, —
that is, of desirable provisions rejected ; whence it follows that they can
be readily amended by the addition of a few lines in one or two articles ;
and such amendments were provided for in the construction of the
articles and sections, in case they should be deemed necessary, so that
such additions can be inserted without producing conflict with any part
of the work, or creating ambiguity or confusion.
Secondly, that it is especially true that in most of those provisions
deemed of great value now, they followed their own foresight and judg-
ment, unaided by any ascertained public opinion, while in those matters
in which fault now appears or is alleged, if any, their judgment coincided
with the sentiment then prevailing in the public mind. Hence, the
people of Colorado have less ground on which to share the praise, than
the blame. And further, the error in most cases (if there be any) if not
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 305
in all, was in placing too much reliance on the wisdom and care of
future legislatures, formerly a very safe reliance, as shown by the old
constitutions, and the legislation under them.
Further, it must be considered that the men who led the majority
in determining the course pursued as to several subjects ; notably the
provisions concerning corporations, water rights, railroads and the like,
in which the public interests find too little protection to-day, were mostly,
if not all of them, equally active and firm in the large majority which so
well fortified our noble free school system against the movements, open
and covert, to cripple its efiiciency, which are now springing, and
spreading throughout the country.
As might have been expected, upon these questions, as well as on
that concerning the fees of public officers, there was no insufficiency of
what is known as "the lobby," to say nothing of petitions and remon-
strances from all quarters, couched in the most urgent terms.
The siege upon the convention in the railroad matter, was led by
the most influential of the public men of the Territory ; and, concerning
the school question, by more men of the same class than the people
have supposed, and by the clerical authorities of at least two prominent
ecclesiastical bodies, although other such bodies warmly supported the
majority of the convention.
As to the question of fees or salaries, the obstruction was entirely
the work of officers and party politicians, and conducted according to
the tactics usual in such cases. It came too late, however, to prevent
the State officers from being provided with salaries ; and to this day,
the officers receive their salaries, and the State the fees, conse-
quently there is never any "lobby" to prevent the legislature from
reducing the fees of the State officers, or to procure legislation to create
a necessity for additional fees. But at that time there were no State
officers to interfere.
Upon the important and difficult subject of public indebtedness,
there was no noticeable attempt to influence the action of the con-
vention but it would be otherwise now and hereafter, as plainly appears
306 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
from the action of many county and other municipal boards, as well as
of certain "members of the press."
Now it may be seen from what is shown in small j^art above, that
some cause must have existed which may have tended to modify the
action of some of the majority of the convention, in deciding upon the
questions affecting corporations, railroads, water rights and fees and
salaries and the like, and which gave especial effect to the opposition
from without, to the measures proposed and urged by a minority in
dealing with those subjects.
There was such a cause, and one which could not have place in the
minds of members of a legislative body having inherent power to pro-
mulgate laws, absobitc in their character, as the statutes of the legislative
assembly of a sovereign State. It was not necessarily any influence
which might be exerted on the mind of a member to cause him to act
as he otherwise would not, and so deter him from performing his duty,
but it acted, if at all, in this way. The convention was not a legislative
body. It could enact no laws. Its work when completed, would be in
the nature of a protocol, to be adopted or rejected by the entire people,
and they, and not the convention, would enact the instrument, if
enacted at all, into an existing and valid organic law. But it must
pass their scrutiny with all the influences opposing it at the convention,
arrayed against it in every part of the Territory. Now it is one thing
for a set of crafty lobbyists to induce a member to act contrary to his
better judgment through self-interest or other unworthy motive, and
another and very different thing, to create a fear that if certain pro-
visions shall be incorporated in an instrument sought to be adopted by
the people, the parties opposing will be able to procure its defeat at the
polls. In such a case all the good already secured and likely to be
secured by the work of the convention, would be in jeopardy of entire
overthrow in the end.
Such a result in the then condition of the Territory could have
been nothing less than a disaster of great magnitude. It would not
only have prostrated the State movement in the Territory for years, but
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 307
it would have disgusted Congress, which for the first time in such a
case, had appropriated twenty thousand dollars of the public money, in
aid of the Territory in paying the expenses caused by the convention,
and other necessary proceedings.
This question of the adoption of the constitution by the people,
was, as it always has been in every such convention, often discussed on
the floor, as well as in the committee rooms, and it was continually in
view. If the efforts of those who represented the interests of syn-
dicates, corporations and monopoly generally, had any influence on the
acts of any members of the convention, it is but fair to suppose that it
was caused by what they considered prudential considerations, based on
actual conditions, not to be controlled by themselves or the convention.
In fact, such considerations did affect the minds of all, to a greater or
less extent, of each, according to his own judgment- of what the people
would really do.
But those members with whom the writer had the honor to act
from first to last in the minority on the four questions to which these
remarks apply, can of course claim no benefit from this statement of the
case. It is therefore not on their account that these reflections are
offered ; but because they are justly due to others who were actuated by
dift'erent views, whose number was sufficient to cast the majority either
w^ay, and whose title to rank among honorable and capable men, in the
most comprehensive sense of those terms, can never be gainsaid.
It has been claimed of late that the convention sitting when the
community was weak in numbers and resources, could not prepare a
constitution adapted to the exalted state of business and affluence to
which we have lately arrived ; and consequently, however little it may
have been hitherto supposed by the people, it is very defective in all Its
parts, and should be reconstructed throughout, by means of a new and
different sort of convention, one more in keeping with modern legis-
lative views.
The constitution doubtless has defects, but they are not such as
complained of, and it is part of its history (consequently proper to be
308 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
mentioned here) that none of them arose from the cause or causes
assigned.
The convention was well aware of the condition of the country, and
fully expected a great change, and for that reason labored, not to fit
the constitution solely for the then existing, or for any anticipated con-
ditions, but as to all its provisions which, from their nature, are not to be
affected by changes in the condition of public affairs, to make the same
absolute ; because of necessity they must prove to be equally good or
bad, in one case as well as another ; but in all provisions which change
of affairs might affect, to make them adjustable. For this purpose
they introduced different scales of adjustment ; some based on increase
of population, and others on increase of resources ; as taxable property,
— the two factors which rule in the principal class of changes which
legislators in this country are called upon to provide for. Most of the
conditional provisions involve both scales. As to matters of social,
moral and intellectual advancement, they left very little to provide for
which can fall within the limited sphere of governmental surpervision,
according to American ideas of the proper functions of government.
Very few constitutions, if any, contain so many and various pro-
visions for adjustment as that of Colorado, and from this cause most of
the alleged defects (seriously mentioned) will appear on examination to
be defects in the situation ; that is, in the necessary state of circum-
stances and conditions of the country ; and by means of the elasticity of
the constitution will disappear of themselves, or otherwise can be
removed with facility by the easy mode of amendment provided for in
the body of the instrument, and might have been, if deemed important,
amended before now. In fact, a number of amendments have been
made concerning small matters, and some of them of questionable
utility, while those now complained of for the first time, have been left
untouched.
As to the defects, whatever they are, they are mostly such as arise
from oversight or inadvertence, and doubtless would have been in the
work if the present circumstances had then existed, and the same or
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 309
others might appear in the work of any new convention, for over-
sights do not depend on conditions of pubHc affairs, but they are
found in the work of all public bodies, more or less, according to their
opportunity for exercising care and diligence, and probably in no State
constitution less than that of Colorado — unquestionably not in any con-
stitution formed under a pressure of circumstances which reduced the
time spent in its construction to no more than seventy-two actual
working days, exclusive of Sundays and the Christmas adjournment.
To show in particular the merits (or demerits, if any) of the mem-
bers or committees is not intended here, but it is due to the public to
say, in order that it may be publicly known, that besides the men in
that convention whose competency and sterling qualities have been in
many ways brought before the people, both before and since the time
of the convention, there was a greater number than is generally sup-
posed, and greater in proportion to the whole number than falls to the
lot of but few such bodies, whose constant thoughtful and unobtrusive
labors have never attracted public attention as they merited, and the
people of the State to-day know not how much is due them in appre-
ciation and gratitude.
And this, and what follows concerning them, may be said without
detracting in the least from what is due to those who are better known
throughout the State, by reason of their connection with important
positions, or otherwise in such pursuits as have brought their names
much before the people, — as Barela, Beck, Clark, Ellsworth, Elder,
Ebert, Felton, Head, Hough, James, Kennedy, Marsh, Meyer, Ouillian,
Rockwell, Stone, Thatcher, Webster, Wells, Wheeler, White, Wilcox
and Wilson.
There were on several of the committees which were charged with
great labor and the consideration of vexatious complications, certain
members whose services were remarkable, both in the ability displayed
and incessant attention to the business before them.
Of these there were on the Committee on Public Indebtedness
three of extraordinary capacity for that difficult work, Robert Douglas
310 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
of El Paso, Abram K. Yount of Larimer, and William H. Cushman of
Clear Creek. Two of these were engaged in banking at the time, the
other was a farmer and stock grower, and had been Judge of a Court
of Record.
The people of the State little understand what foresight, sagacity
and knowledge in financial, State, county and town affairs was displayed
by them severally in their untiring labor on the committee last men-
tioned, which had in charge one of the most complicated subjects acted
on by the convention.
Two of them, Messrs. Yount and Cushman, were also on a com-
mittee on a closely allied subject, — that on Revenue and Finance, — of
which Mr. Cushman was chairman, where their services must have been
equally valuable, while Judge Douglas was chairman of the Committee
on State Institutions and Buildings, and he was also on the Committee
on Education and Educational Institutions, a position for which he
was remarkably well fitted. Each was also on other committees. Yet
neither of them attempted any display of his abilities on the floor.
Another trio of men too little known outside the convention, accord-
ing to their deserts, were A. D. Cooper of Fremont, S. J. Plumb of Weld,
and William Lee of Jefferson. All three were together on the impor-
tant Comm.ittee on Irrigation, Agriculture and Manufactures, of which
Mr. Plumb was chairman. He was also on the Committee on Counties,
a very troublesome subject ; while Mr. Lee served on the important
Committee on Revision and Adjustment, and on that of Officers and
Oaths of Office, a very important one, and also on the Committee on
Miscellaneous Subjects, which means much in a Constitutional Con-
vention. In this case it included the subject of Division of the School
Funds, Classification of Counties as to fees, and other like important
matters.
Mr. Cooper was on three other committees. Corporations, Public
and Private, Military Affairs, and Enrolling and Engrossing. Two of
these last mentioned were charged with very perplexing subjects, the
third with much tedious drudgery.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 311
The Irrigation Committee, wherever found, is (to its members) a
mild form of martyrdom. It is simply snowed under by difficulties.
The brood of conflicts between different interests having reasonable
claims impossible to be satisfied, because of the natural conditions, wear
out patience and perseverance in any human organization, while the
responsibilities are very great. The sagacity and perseverance of these
men enabled them to effect more than could have been expected, in
dealing with the exceptional conditions affecting the subject of irrigation.
Three others must be mentioned here : Daniel Hurd of Arapahoe,
William C. Stover of Larimer and J. W. Widderfield of Bent.
Mr. Hurd was chairman of the Committee on Education and Edu-
cational Institutions, also one of the Committee on Counties, and that on
State Institutions and Buildings. His ability and devotion to the cause
of free schools, and the work of rightly founding the free school
system of the State, made him a man of mark to all who came in contact
with him. His industry and perseverance were equal to his other
qualities.
Mr. Stover was on the Committee on the Legislative Department,
and that on Mines and Mining, and also on the Committee on Counties.
Mr. Widderfield was on the Committee on Bill of Rights, also on the
Committee on Irrigation, Agriculture and Manufactures, and on Enroll-
ment and Engrossment. These two men were members whose abilities
and usefulness in that body deserve far more appreciation than the
people of the State are likely to suppose. But their colleagues in the
convention knew that they were always at the post of duty, and vigilant
and discreet.
Beside the above mentioned shall be named here two others, Byron
L. Carr of Boulder, and George E. Pease of Park. These are spoken
of in this connection, not because they were unknown, but because
neither of them was then known generally at his real value for the
purposes of that convention.
Judge Pease was a man versatile in his capacities, and his discretion
and knowledge of law, especially in its fundamental, that is, its constitu-
312 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
tional principles, rendered his work in the convention indispensable. He
was chairman of the Committee on Future Amendments, one of the
Committee on the Judiciary Department, and on the Committee on
Military Affairs, and on that on Congressional and Legislative Appor-
tionment.
Col. Carr was also a member of the bar, well grounded in law and the
constitutional principles of government, and versed in general scholar-
ship, especially in the effective use of language, as was made to appear
in his work in the Committee of Revision. His sagacity and com-
petency in that work were remarkable. His industry and constancy
could be excelled by none. He was chairman of the Committee on
Military Affairs, a member of the Committee of Revision, of that on
Mines and Mining, the Committee on Education and Educational Insti-
tutions, and also on the Committee on the Schedule.
A number of the members have since the time of the convention
been elected or appointed to responsible official positions, under the
constitution and laws of the State, or of the United States.
Of these, Casimero Barela, William W. Webster, Lewis C. Ells-
worth and Clarence P. Elder, and William H. Meyer have served in
the State Senate, and Robert A. Ouillian, George E. Pease and Robert
Douglas in the House of Representatives. Mr. Barela in both houses,
in one or the other continuously.
Alvin Marsh in the office of Attorney General ; William H. Meyer,
Lieutenant Governor ; William M. Clark, Secretary of State ; Willard
B. Felton, Secretary of the Senate and Warden of the Penitentiary ;
P. P. Wilcox, United States Marshal ; William W. Webster, Capitol
Commissioner. Each of these has served in his office to the benefit of
the people, and with honor to himself.
From the Committee on the Judiciary Department besides Felton,
Marsh, Wilcox and Pease, above mentioned, have been chosen four
members of the Supreme Court — Ebenezer T. Wells, Henry C. Thatcher,
Wilbur F. Stone and William E. Beck, the latter having served on the
district bench. Eio-ht in all from that committee.
-X^ , •^X-«:^A.>«--<^V_.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 313
In their career as judges, they and their colleagues, Judges Elbert
and Helm, and with them the judges of the district bench throughout
the State, have done a greater work than the people are aware of in
maintaining and perfecting the system of Colorado law and jurispru-
dence, concerning water rights, which was initiated in the days of the
first settlement of the country by the Territorial legislature, and
partially developed by the Territorial courts, — notably by the decision
of that admirable jurist, Judge Moses Hallett, in the El Paso case, and
now further perfected as cases have arisen, among which are Younker vs.
Nichols, I Col. Rep., 551,— Cof=fin et al vs. Left Hand Ditch Co., VI
Col. 444, — Seiber et al. vs. Frink et al, VII Col. 148, — Golden Canal
Co. vs. Bright, VIII Col., 144, — Wheeler vs. Northern Col. In Co., X
Col. 582, and many others in the Supreme courts, and also in the Dis-
trict courts. Of the latter are the many decrees in the adjudication of
water rights, beginning with the work of Judge Victor A. Elliott in the
Second District, and followed by that of all the judges of the State then
sitting, and their successors hitherto, which decrees have proved so satis-
factory throughout the many water districts, that they have never found
their way into the reports of the Supreme Court decisions. And it
may now be truly said that our courts have given to Colorado a far
better system of adjudicated irrigation law, than could have been ex-
pected under the scanty enactments of Congress, the Territorial legis-
lature, the constitution and statutes of the State.
And this has not been done by that encroachment on legislative
functions which is aptly termed "judicial legislation," but by that wise
and truly judicial discretion which "discerns justice by the law," and
which is in truth part of the law itself, and the proper function of a
judicial tribunal to declare, and that by which it makes title to being a
veritable "department" of the government.
In this, as in several other matters, the courts of Colorado doubt-
less deserve the acknowledgment that they have already done more for
the agricultural interests of the State than has been done in the way of
regulation by law, outside the judicial forum, except that the consti-
314 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
tution did provide for priorities, and that reasonable rates should be
established by County Commissioners, which last is in effect the same
as the statute of A. D. 1861.
The County Commissioners have also contributed their full share
in the work, as is shown by the decision of the county boards
of Douglas and Arapahoe Counties, in which they held that a reason-
able rate is that which is reasonable in respect to the interests of
both the user and the purveyor of the water, and in view of the use and
of the case, as presumed to have been known to both parties before
the diversion of the water from the stream.
The members of the convention were of course divided as to po-
litical affiliation, the majority being Republicans ; but this division, as
before said, never caused a ripple on the stream of discussion.
The Republican members were Messrs. Yount, Wilcox, Wells,
Webster, Wilson, Thatcher, Rockwell, Plumb, Meyer, Marsh, James,
Head, Hurd, Felton, Ebert, Elder, Ellsworth, Douglas, Crosby, Cooper,
Clark, Carr, Beck and Bromwell.
The Democratic members were Messrs. Widderfield, Wheeler,
White, Vijil, Stover, Stone, Quillian, Pease, Lee, Garcia, Hough, Ken-
nedy, Cushman, Boyles and Barela.
They were also divided both in racial descent and native language.
One of these divisions might be called sectional, also, that between the
English and Spanish-speaking members ; another between the English
and Spanish-speaking on one part, and those whose native language
was German on the other part. The Spanish-speaking by nativity
were Messrs. Agapito Vijil (Veheel) of Las Animas, Jesus (Hasoos)
Maria Garcia (Garcea — accent on second syllable) of Las Animas, and
Casimero Barela of Las Animas. Of these three, Mr. Barela, in con-
sequence of his command of the English language, was accorded unani-
mously the position of leader of the representation of the Spanish-
speaking citizens of the southern counties, while Messrs. Vijil and
Garcia, although embarrassed by being compelled at times to resort to
the aid of an interpreter, engaged earnestly and understandingly in the
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 315
work before the convention, and closed their labors with honor to them-
selves and their constituents, and benefit to the State they helped to
set on foot. Mr. Vijil supported the provision prohibiting the division
of the school funds, against the motion of Mr. Hough to strike the pro-
vision out, and also on the final adoption of the section. Mr. Garcia
and Mr. Barela being absent, the writer cannot certainly state their
position on that point, further than that they were firm friends of edu-
cation and morality in all respects.
As to Mr. Barela, he has made his name familiar throughout the
State by his many years of service in both branches of the Territorial
and State legislature. In the convention he exhibited the same char-
acteristics of generosity and courtesy which have won for him the
esteem of his- colleagues in all those bodies. Taken together, the Mex-
ican delegation won the confidence and regard of all, as well as their
lasting friendship.
They were not the only representatives of the Mexican element.
Mr. Meyer and Col. Head, old residents, and versed in the Spanish
language, represented two of the " Mexican counties."
No one who has ever visited Conejos, fails to remember the wide
dwelling house of Mr. Head, which covers a space as large as a half
block in any part of the city of Denver, and on every foot of its floors
the stranger finds a welcome, which unites the old Missouri hospitality
with the proverbial bounty of the Mexican home life.
The German stock in our Colorado community was well repre-
sented by Mr. Frederick J. Ebert of Arapahoe, and Mr. William H.
Meyer of Costilla.
Mr. Ebert was a noble man, and a faithful representative of the
best modern intelligence and thought, as might be inferred from his
name standing in the biographical roll of at least one of the German
cyclopedias, before he was known in Colorado.
Mr. Meyer could represent both the German and Spanish, as well
as the English-speaking portion of his district, for, like Mr. Ebert, he
was a man of languages. His residence in a part of the Territory in
316 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
which some opposition to the public school article was manifested, did
not swerve him from the instinctive German loyalty to the cause of free
schools, and he stood by the provision against the division of the public
school fund to the last. Mr. Ebert was notable in his devotion to the
cause of education, especially the public free school system, and his
mind was always on the alert in furtherance of every enterprise for the
diffusion of knowledge among all classes of the community. In true
manliness of character he was at once an ornament to the German race,
and an honor to his adopted country.
The convention was not altogether so solemn a body as some might
suppose. Indeed, no assembly with Stone, Wilcox and Crosby on the
floor, could fail to have some genuine old-fashioned fun at times, or at
odd hours in the hall or other rooms.
It had also some sport occasionally in the way of punishing those
who "appeared out of sight," when for some cause their presence was
required. On one occasion of this sort, Judge Wells and Mr. White
being found delinquent. Judge Wells was mulcted in two boxes of cigars,
and a bushel of apples, while Mr. White was let off with a peck of pea-
nuts, all which property disappeared ; that is, was " consumed in the use "
of the convention, before it could be turned over to the proper custodian
of the Territorial property. This, of course, was because there were
"distressing doubts," as the courts say, as to whether the United States
or the Territory was the lawful claimant, as the convention was repre-
senting one, and acting solely under the authority of the other of those
two powers.
The reason assigned by the inculpation committee in their report
against the delinquents, why Judge Wells should be punished more
severely than his colleague in non-feasance, was that he (Wells) had
been extremely severe while on the bench in punishing dilatory witnesses
and jurors, but it has been slightly surmised that the cause was that his
" example was odious," in working more hours per day on the judiciary
and legislative articles than some others deemed to be "healthy" under
the circumstances.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 317
There took place afterward a more serious incident, which serves to
show what great results may depend on apparently unimportant move-
ments, concerning widely different matters. A portion of the judiciary
committee brought in a report proposing that a popular election for the
choosing of electors for President and Vice-President, " should be called
by the convention, in the election ordinance." Judge Pease, of the
same committee, at once took the floor in opposition, on the ground
that such a provision would be null and void, for want of power in the
convention to deal with the subject.
A lively debate followed, which ended in the convention resorting
to the mode which formerly obtained in South Carolina, viz., leaving the
electors (for the year A. D. 1876) to be chosen by the legislature itself,
which was the only practicable mode, as the legislature could not pos-
sibly be elected and meet in time to order an election by the people.
The truth is, that a legislature of the State is the only power which can
elect or provide for the election of those ofificers.
Now, before that time, some spiritual medium had received a pre-
diction from the other world, that on that year (1S76), "the President
of the United States would come from Colorado." Those most imbued
with faith in this prophecy, announced at once that a Colorado man
would be the next President, according to the literal sense of the words
used. But those better skilled in the art and mystery of augury,
incantations and the like, gave a more truly oracular character to the
prediction ; that is, a more ambiguous one, and maintained that it meant
either that the next President should be a citizen of Colorado, or that
he should be chosen by the vote of Colorado, which ever might happen.
What followed ? Why, sure enough, it turned out that the last
mentioned expounders were right, for the mode of choosing the electors
being made legal by the legislature selecting them, the vote of Colorado
did actually elect Gen. Rutherford B. Hayes President by one majority,
and if it had been cast for Governor Samuel J. Tilden, would have elected
him by five majority. But if the mode of choosing the electors had been
otherwise fixed by the convention, it would have been manifestly void,
318 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
and so declared, and Governor Tilden declared elected by two majority,
without any dispute, such as arose when the returns began to come in ;
consequently, the attempts to influence presidential electors, and the
returning boards in several States, the cipher dispatches, and the
perambulations of the so-called "visiting Statesmen" of both parties
to certain States, to appear before returning boards where they had no
sort of business, would never have taken place.
The faithfulness of the members and officers of the convention is
well known to all who took notice of their conduct, and is shown in part
by their continuing at their work, adjusting, amending and revising, by
adding, taking out and modifying, by day and night, twenty-one days
after the expiration of the time for which they could be paid. And this,
while most of them were pressed by extremely urgent affairs of their
own, already long neglected ; and indeed, many of them thus lost pecu-
niarily far more than all they received for their services, while not a
single member, so far as known, ever asked the legislature of the
State to pay the unpaid portion of their salaries. However, it was, after
some nine years, paid by the voluntary act of the legislature.
During the entire session no clerks were employed to assist any
committee, excej^t that Mr. Salisbury, assistant Engrossing and Enrolling
Clerk, devoted much valuable labor in aid of the Committee on Revision
in the numerous engrossments of sections and articles rendered neces-
sary by the special work in which they were engaged.
But none of these considerations availed to secure the convention
against a loud clamor on the part of a portion of the community, calling
on the convention to adjourn ; and every day and night that they con-
tinued at the work, they were harassed by the impatient expressions of
unreflecting or interested parties. Indeed, some few of the members
were so influenced by what they saw and heard, that they began to urge
an adjournment. But there was at all times a working majority who
would have staid by the work much longer than they actually did, had
they found it necessary.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 319
Before they adjourned finally, they published an address to the
people, setting forth the reasons for their action in the most important
provisions of the constitution, which address was prepared by a com-
mittee of which Wm. M. Clark of Clear Creek, was chairman, and con-
tains matter well worth perusal at this time. They then paid off the last
item of expense incurred, out of the funds in hand, procured a gold
pen with which to subscribe the constitution in duplicate, which, being
done, they presented to the President of the convention the pen and the
large dictionary, purchased first by the Secretary of the Territory for the
use of the convention, and then purchased by the members from the
Territory, for presentation as mentioned ; also a cordial address
subscribed by the members. The pen is the same deposited some
months ago by President Wilson in the Mercantile library, established
by the Chamber of Commerce of the city of Denver.
At the last, when all was done, there came to this, as to all other
such human assemblies, the conclusion.
It would have been a time of gratulation in a burden lifted, of
satisfaction in a work accomplished, but the gladsome sense of release
was repressed by the reflection that the liberation from a task was the
signal of the separation, and all knew that to such a dispersion there
follows no reassembling, at any time or place.
The names of all remain on the double roll where they subscribed
them, each with his own hand, but those of Thatcher, Hurd, Yount,
Boyles, Ebert, White, Cushman (and most likely Crosby), have been
triplicated by the hands of others on their scattered headstones.
Shortly the roll call thus begun, beyond the invisible portals of
"the world to be," will be fully answered, — and the convention, — a
bubble on the stream of human memory.
In the foregoing sketch of the convention and its work. Judge
Bromwell, with characteristic modesty, has avoided reference to his own
services in that historic assembly of lawmakers, hence the author has
undertaken to supply, in so far as he may, the noticeable discrepancy.
320 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
It is the testimony of his colleagues that, to his enlightened judgment,
ripe experience and unremitting zeal, and to the many wise provisions
drafted by him, we are indebted for some of the higher excellencies of
our fundamental charter. It is well also to add, that while some of the
propositions advanced by him, and most eloquently advocated as
essential features for the protection and well being of the State, were
rejected, for the obvious reason that his associates failed to penetrate
the future with the keen foresight given to him, it is now discovered
after a little more than a decade of advancement, when the State has
developed more swiftly than the more sanguine then conceived to be
possible, that the errors which he discerned and strove to guard against,
have grown and multiplied Into serious grievances, for the want of the
restrictions which he would have supplied. One of these was designed
to abolish the indefensible fee system, by the substitution of salaries,
but the overwhelming influence of an organized lobby, which threatened
the constitution with defeat if this provision were incorporated, excited
the fears and overcame the better judgment of the majority and it was
left out, thereby opening a veritable Pandora's box of evils, to harass
the people by multiplying costs, involving disgraceful corruption in
politics, and casting burdens upon the taxpayers which can never be
justified nor condoned, notwithstanding the precedents found in the
government of the United States and in most of the State constitutions.
Bromwell was essentially honest, and moreover, was inspired by the
loftiest patriotism In his endeavors to produce an Instrument which, if
not wholly perfect In all Its parts, should achieve the highest attainable
degree of excellence. To this purpose he devoted his fine talents with
unfaltering energy and great enthusiasm. Though not always right in
his conclusions, he was always candid, and much oftener right than
wrong. A profound student and an able lawyer, given to acute analysis
of legal problems, he discussed all questions by the light of a long and
active life In the practice of his profession, and extended service in
State and national legislatures. The younger delegates, relying upon
his wisdom, often consulted him as to the effect of Important measures
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 321
introduced, and while sometimes entertaining convictions opposed to
his, the changes time has wrought have convinced them, that in some
cases at least, it would have been better had his opinions, and not theirs,
controlled final action. But, as has been stated in his review, all the
members were actuated by the common motive, — the production of an
acceptable constitution, and the few imperfections now observable were
simply errors of judgment, and may be amended as the need appears.
Upon one thing all agree, that Bromwell was one of the most fervent,
high minded, learned and useful members of the convention, and it is
unquestionable that some of the better features of the charter relating
to irrigation and the public lands, as those also which restrict public
expenditures to the measure of current revenue, were originated by him,
therefore the large class of people who are beneficially affected thereby,
have cause to be grateful to him for the efforts put forth in their behalf.
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER XV.
Area and boundary lines of Colorado — character of the several divisions
gen. J. W. DENVER, AND HIS STORMY ADMINISTRATION IN KANSAS ADOPTION
OF OUR STATE CONSTITUTION ADMISSION PROCLAIMED BY THE PRESIDENT
MEETING OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES NOMINATIONS FOR STATE OFFICERS AND
FOR CONGRESS — THE FAMOUS BELFORD-PATTERSON CONTEST COLORADO DECIDES
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1876 — EFFORTS TO DEPRIVE BELFORD OF HIS
SEAT IN CONGRESS.
Colorado is the only State or Territory, whose boundary lines are
so exactly drawn as to form a perfect parallelogram. Since the lines
originally defined, for the so-called Territory of Jefferson, which pre-
ceded the organization of the Territory of Colorado, were adopted by
Congress with slight modifications, it has become a marked figure upon
the maps of the nation, occupying as it does, a conspicuous central
position in the western half of the continent, and embracing the greater
portion of the Rocky Mountains of the West.
The area, boundary lines and geographical center of Colorado, as
set forth in different publications, show many and wide variations, no
two of them being in agreement. Desirous of procuring for this work
the exact figures, if obtainable, I applied to Professor P. H. van Diest,
a distinguished engineer, in charge of the chief department of the Sur-
veyor General's office, and the most learned authority on the subject,
who has kindly furnished the statement which follows :
"Its area is 103,477.93 square miles, embracing 66,205,875.20
acres, equal to that covered by the States of New York, Pennsylvania,
Massachusetts and New Jersey. The plains east of the mountains
constitute about one-third of the total area, the remainder, in the middle
being mountains and parks, and in the western high mesa lands. The
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 323
greater portion of the mesas can be cultivated if sufficient water can be
brought over them for purposes of irrigation. The park and mountain
region is, in general, too elevated for agriculture, but may be exten-
sively utilized as pasture ground for cattle, horses and sheep. The
plains east of the mountains, which are all arable lands, can be made pro-
ductive, and in a great many portions are producing large crops of cereals
under systematic irrigation. The extent to which these lands can be
tilled is only limited by the water supply from canals and reservoirs.
"At present, in the Platte Valley and its tributaries, 631,036 acres
are irrigated, and 1,126,800 acres may be supplied by the 2,067.36
miles of ditches constructed and in operation.
"In the Arkansas Valley and its tributaries, 101,047 acres are irri-
gated, and 255,240 acres under 943.30 miles of ditch.
"In the Valley of the Rio Grande and tributaries 177,948 acres
are irrigated, and 501,670 acres under TJ^-iS miles of ditch.
" From other river valleys, as the Grand, Dolores and others, no
reliable data can be given, but it is estimated that not less than 5,000
miles of canals and ditches have been constructed, covering consid-
erably larger areas than are given above. The water supply is by no
means exhausted by these various arteries, but how much more land
can be supplied, it is difficult to estimate. The 'information surveys'
now being conducted under the direction of Major Powell, chief of the
United States Geological Survey, will, it is believed, soon furnish trust-
worthy data on this subject, which is of vital importance to our people.
" Considerable portions of river and creek bottoms and uplands can
be cultivated without irrigation. Sixteen thousand square miles of the
State are covered by forests. The mineral lands, located along the
mountain slopes, cover a large extent, although the aggregate of pro-
ductive areas may not embrace many square miles. Four-fifths of the
State has an elevation of 4,000 to 10,000 feet. The lowest elevation on
the eastern border is 3,703 feet, and on the western 4,435 feet. The
city of Denver stands at an elevation of 5,196 feet above tidewater.
Along the foot hills the average is 6,500 feet. In the principal parks,
324 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
formerly the beds of inland seas or lakes, it ranges from 8,000 to 9,500
feet. The summit of the main range averages about 11,000 feet.
Seventy-two peaks rise to heights ranging between 13,500 and 14,500
feet above the level of the sea. The highest mountain is the Sierra
Blanca, which has an elevation of 14,483 feet.
"The basis of 103,477.93 square miles should be adopted as the
correct one, if the astronomical monuments placed at the four corners of
the State were exactly in the positions assigned them by the act of Con-
gress describing the boundaries, but they are not. When the first
monuments determining the southern boundary were placed, the obser-
vations as to longitude principally, were necessarily inaccurate. In the
absence of telegraphic communication of time, the observers were
obliged to resort to moon culminations for their determination of the
longitude, which leaves an error that is beyond the power of the most
skillful astronomer with the best instruments to eliminate.
" The boundary between Colorado and New Mexico was surveyed in
1868 by Ehud N. Darling, and that between Nebraska and Colorado in
1869, by S. N. Chaffee; between Kansas and Colorado in 1872, by
John T. Major, who also surveyed in 1873, that portion of the southern
boundary north of the public lands between New Mexico and the
Indian Territory. The boundary between Wyoming and Colorado
was surveyed in 1872, by A. V. Richards, and that between Utah and
Colorado in i878-'79, by R. J. Reeves. A re-survey of this line from the
southwest corner of our State to the White River crossing was made
June 20th, 1885, by Allen D. Wilson, eliminating an error in excess of
measurement up to that point, of one mile, 30.68 chains.
According to these surveys the boundaries are measured as follows :
West Boundary. 275 miles 29.96 chains, which is 39 chains 34 links shorter than
the arc of a meridian between 37° and 41° latitude should be,
The East Boundary —
Between Kansas and Colorado 207 miles 26 chains.
Between Colorado and Nebraska 68 miles 79.59 chains.
276 miles 25.59 chains.
Which is 36 chains 29 links longer than it should be.
\
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 325
The North Boundary is measured —
Between Colorado and Nebraska 104 miles 73.34 chains.
Between Colorado and Wyoming. 262 miles 28.53 chains.
367 miles 21.87 chains.
Which is I mile 32.44 chains too long.
The South Boundary is measured —
Between Colorado and New Mexico 331 miles 60 chains.
Between Colorado and Public Lands 55 miles 22.50 chains.
386 miles 82.50 chains.
Which is 58.41 chains shorter than it should be.
" Accepting the measurements of the boundaries as final and correct
between the four corner measurements, then the area calculated from
these data should be 103,563.6380 square miles. But these figures are
likely to differ again from the official figures, which can only be obtained
when all the townships in Colorado shall have been surveyed.
" In the spring of 1858 the first lines of public survey were protracted
from the system of lines in New Mexico within what is now Colorado.
In the spring of 1859 the first lines of public survey were extended west
within Colorado from the Kansas or Sixth Principal System. In the
summer of 1861, Francis M. Case was appointed the first Surveyor
General for Colorado, and since that time the survey of public lands
has proceeded steadily until the present (October, 1889). Of the
2,757 full townships of thirty-six square miles, and 237 fractional town-
ships along the boundary lines of the State, and boundaries of the Sixth
Principal Meridian and New Mexico Principal Meridian System, cov-
ering the State, only 223 townships remain unsurveyed. The surveys
of townships are not always correct, a limit of error being allowed of 80
links per mile, but the record of such surveys is official, and the area is
accepted as it is given on the ofiicial plat.
" The geographical center of Colorado is situated in the meridian of
longitude 28° 30' west of Washington, and 122 feet north of the point of
intersection of said meridian with the 39th° parallel of north latitude.
This is very near the N. W. corner of the N. E. i of the N. W. j of
326 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Section 21, township 12 S. R. 'j-^^ W., and three miles N. N. E. of
Spinney Station, on the Midland Railroad, in Park County."
The Territory of Louisiana, of which certain areas in Colorado
form a part, was ceded to the United States by Napoleon Bonaparte,
First Consul of France, by a treaty signed May 3d, 1803, and ratified
by the American Congress October 20th following.
For this enormous grant, now of incalculable value, the United
States, through Thomas Jefferson, paid sixteen millions of dollars. By
the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo at the close of the war with Mexico,
in 1848, the remainder of this vast territory, embracing the western and
southwestern parts of Colorado, all New Mexico and Upper California,
came into our possession by the payment of fifteen millions, which
extended the national domain to the Pacific Ocean.
The act of Congress providing for the organization of the Territory
of Kansas was approved May 30th, 1854. The name passed through
;^arious changes of orthography from the earlier writers to the later,
thus— Canson, Kanson, Kanzas, to Kansas. Its limits extended west-
Ward from the Missouri River to the summit of the Rocky Mountain
chain, and to the northward from the 37th to the 40th parallel. It was
admitted into the Union January 29th, 1861, its boundaries as then
defined, excluding all that portion theretofore claimed, and over which
the Territory had asserted the right of jurisdiction, and including Col-
orado, or the Pike's Peak region. It is not my purpose to give even a
brief synopsis of its history. The facts are fully set forth in the pub-
lished annals of that State. The capital city of Colorado was named for
one of its Territorial Governors, hence it is deemed advisable to make
such reference to his career as the extremely brief record before us will
permit.
Gen. J. W. Denver is a Virginian by birth, and a lawyer by pro-
fession. He earned his military title by gallant service in the war with
Mexico. At the time of his appointment as Secretary and acting Gov-
ernor of Kansas Territory, by President Buchanan in December, 1857,
he held the office of Indian Commissioner, had lived on the borders of
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 327
Kansas and Missouri before the former Territory was opened to
settlement, and when the commission reached him, was on a visit to
friends in Lecompton. The honor had been several times tendered him,
but respectfully declined. He knew the condition of affairs, the tur-
bulence and confusion which prevailed, was in full accord with the
better and more conservative free State element, but as most of the
leading men of Western Missouri were his personal friends, he felt that
if he became Governor of Kansas they would naturally expect him to
conduct the government in their interest. Persistent urging finally
induced him to accept. His first step was to conciliate and organize
the thinking, rational and respectable forces for peace and order. Hav-
ing taken a general survey of affairs, he wrote his conclusions at length
to the President, urging him not to present the Lecompton constitution
to Congress, but to earnestly recommend in his forthcoming message to
that body, the adoption of an Enabling act, whereby the people might
reorganize and make a fresh start for good government. The Pres-
ident was deeply impressed by the facts set forth in General Denver's
letter, but he had already written his message and committed himself
to the Lecompton outrage. Furthermore, he had read that part of the
document to a number of Senators and Representatives, and he could
not therefore, withdraw it.
Denver made a tour of Southeastern Kansas with a view to
adjusting the disorders everywhere prevalent, delivering a number cf well
considered speeches that were well received, and for a time produced a
quieting effect. Just as he began to feel encouraged over the better
situation, old John Brown, who had been absent some months, reappeared
on the scene, and thereafter, tranquility ceased. After a stormy admin-
istration, finding it impossible to stem the current, he resigned
October loth, 1858, since which time he has lived a quiet and rather
uneventful life. He is a tall, robust, and rather imposing figure, with a
pleasant face and expression, and engaging manners. Although he has
not pushed himself to the front in political or other affairs, he made a
fine record as a soldier, and had he been supported by the President,
328 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
his administration would doubtless have effected many salutary changes
in Kansas, in the war of the constitutions. At this writing he is a
resident of Wilmington, Clinton County, Ohio, President of a bank,
and considered wealthy.
Returning to our own political affairs, the constitution having been
framed as described in the preceding chapter, it was submitted to the
people, accompanied by an admirably worded address, was voted upon
and ratified on the ist day of July, 1876, with the following result, as
determined by the ofificial canvass of the returns:
Total vote, 19,505. For the constitution, 15,443; against, 4,062;
scattering, 18. Majority in favor, 11,381.
The vote was unexpectedly light In all the counties, therefore disap-
pointing, since it gave credence to the too general impression held by
the people of the seaboard States that our population was insufficient to
justify the concession of statehood. Compared with the previous
election the result was surprising, but much of the apparent indifference,
instead of indicating apathy or a diminution of numbers, was found to
be directly attributable to the fact that in the agricultural sections the
farmers were just then occupied with preparations for harvest, and the
miners in the midst of the busiest season of the year. No doubt the
absence of the customary excitement of opposition had also much to do
with it. On Tuesday morning, July 25th, Mr. John M. Reigart, private
secretary to the Governor, left Denver for Washington, bearing a duly
authenticated copy of the constitution and ordinances, an abstract of the
votes, copies of proclamations and other incidental documents, together
with the following certificate ;
To His Excellency, U. S. Grant, President:
Whereas, In accordance with the provisions of an act of the Congress of the
United States, approved March 3d, 1875, entitled "An Act to enable the people of Col-
orado to form a State government, and for the admission of the said State into the
Union on an equal footing with the original States," the people of said Territory of
Colorado, in obedience to the proclamation of the Governor, elected on the 25th day of
October, 1875, representatives to a convention to form a constitution and State
government ; and
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 339
Whereas, The representatives chosen at said election assembled at the city of
Denver, the capital of said Territory on the 20th day of December, 1875, and in
accordance with the provisions of the act aforesaid, formed a constitution, and by
ordinance provided for submitting the same upon the first day of July, 1876, to the
people of said Territory for their ratification or rejection ; and
Whereas, Said election was held as aforesaid, the returns of which were made to
the Governor who, with Hon. Charles D. Bradle_v, United States Attorney, being a
majority of the canvassing board, canvassed the same at the Executive office
in the said city of Denver and Territory aforesaid on the 24th day of July, A. D.
1876, and
Whereas, It appeared from said canvass that the total number of votes cast was
i9.5°S> of which 15,443 were for, and 4,062 against, the ratification of the said consti-
tution and ordinances;
Now Therefore, I, John L. Routt, Governor of the Territory of Colorado, do
hereby certify that said constitution and ordinances were adopted by a majority of
11,381 votes, and I further certify that the foregoing copy of Said constitution and
ordinances is genuine and correct.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the
Territory to be affixed at the city of Denver, this 24th day of July, A. D. 1876.
John L, Routt, Governor.
Attest: John Taffe, Secretai-y of Colorado.
On the 1st of August, President Grant issued his proclamation,
declaring and proclaiming the fact that the fundamental conditions
imposed by Congress on the State of Colorado, to entitle it to admission
into the Union, had been ratified and accepted, and that the admission
of said State into the Union was now complete.
There came a time a few months later, when the authority of the
President to declare Colorado admitted into the Union without further
and final action by Congress, was vigorously contested in an argument
of some length, from the minority of a Congressional committee, as we
shall discover, but it was not adopted.
Thus was ushered into the august sisterhood, the Centennial State,
in the year of the one hundredth anniversary of the Republic, an event
then being celebrated in the city of Philadelphia by representatives of
foreign nations, and by vast multitudes of our own people.
330 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
We now take up the political movements immediately succeeding
the adoption of the constitution, and in regular order trace them to their
respective conclusions.
The Republican State Central Committee held a meeting at Man-
itou on the 20th of Jul)-, 1S76, to consider measures connected with the
welfare of the party, and to arrange a plan of campaign for the election
of State officers, a representative in Congress and a legislative assembly.
At an early stage of these proceedings the following resolution was
adopted, probably in remembrance of a previous unfortunate experience
in putting up the higher prizes too far in advance of the will of the
people:
Hesoh'cd, That it is inexpedient to nominate candidates for the United States
Senate prior to the election for State officers and a legislature.
If there was any good reason for the adoption of such a resolution,
it can only be found in the possible design to forestall indiscreet action
by the subsequent convention of the party, or the ambition of pros-
pective candidates, because neither the committee nor any convention
held by its authority, possessed any right to nominate candidates for the
Senate. Nevertheless, it was debated at some length. At the close of
the meeting a multitude of Mr. Chaffee's admirers marched to the
Manitou House, where he was quartered, and serenaded him. His.
appearance in response to calls was greeted with enthusiastic cheering.
He spoke briefly according to his habit, confining his remarks to the
duties devolving upon the party at this critical period in its history,
counseling harmony and energized unity of action in preparing for the
approaching canvass.
On the 23d of August the delegates met in Pueblo, and organized
by the election of Alvin Marsh of Gilpin, permanent chairman ; M. H.
Fitch of Pueblo, Louis Dugal of Denver, and Victor Garcia of Conejos,
Vice-Presidents; W. B. Felton of Saguache, Secretary; J. A. Wil-
loughby of Summit, and A. E. Gipson of Weld, Assistant Secretaries.
The prominent candidates for Governor were Samuel H. Elbert, John
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 331
L-. Routt, Lafayette Head and George M. Chilcott. The following-
nominations were made :
For Representative iii Congress. — James B. Belford of Gilpin.
For Governor. — John L. Routt of Arapahoe.
For Lieutenant-Governor. — Lafayette Head of Conejos.
For Seeretary of State. — William M. Clark of Clear Creek.
For Auelitor of State. — David C. Crawford of EI Paso.
For Treasurer of State. — George C. Corning of Boulder.
For Attorney General. — A. J. Sampson of Fremont.
For Superintendent of Public Instruction. — Joseph C. Shattuck of
Weld.
For Justices of the Sitprenie Court. — Henry C. Thatcher of Pueblo,
Ebenezer T. Wells of Arapahoe., and Samuel H. Elbert of Arapahoe.
District Judges and Prosecuting Attorneys —
First District. — William E. Beck of Boulder. Attorney, Edward
O. Wolcott of Clear Creek.
Second District. — Victor A. Elliott of Arapahoe. Attorney, David
B. Graham of Arapahoe.
Third District. — James Martin of Las Animas. Attorney, Web-
ster Ballinger of Park.
Fourth District. — Thomas M. Bowen of Rio Grande. Attorney,
C. W. Burris of San Juan.
Chairman of the State Central Committee. — Joseph C. Wilson of
El Paso.
It was the general desire of the delegates to place the name of
Moses Hallett at the head of the nominations for the Supreme bench,
as a mark of distinction due to his long service as Chief-Justice of the
Supreme court of the Territory, and his eminence as a jurist, but
when the name was brought forward, Mr. W. B. Felton arose and
announced that Judge Hallett would in all probability be named by the
President as Judge of the United States District Court for Colorado,
a position which, if tendered, would be accepted.
The ticket was well received by the Republican masses. Routt
332 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
for Governor, proved a happy selection. While lacking the finish of
scholarship, he possessed the qualities of sound common sense, sterling
honesty, and the kind of executive ability that was needed in the
primary stages of the new State ; practical knowledge of the public
needs, and the will to meet them. During his short administration
of Territorial affairs he had advanced no personal schemes, engaged
in no intrigues, but addressed himself conscientiously to the repression
of strife and the unification of all elements for the general good. He
was industrious and faithful to every trust. He had, moreover, been
zealous and potential in advancing the passage of the Enabling act, and
afterward in promoting concord.
Mr. Belford had served on the Territorial bench with marked dis
tinction, having been appointed by the President in 1869, and reap-
pointed in 1873. He was a speaker of great power and eloquence, a
fine campaigner, and popular with the people. The campaign opened
in Denver on the night of the 26th of August, Belford being the orator
of the occasion.
The Democratic State Convention was held at Manitou on the
29th of August, and was called to order by George \V. Miller, chairman
of the State Central Committee (now in his second term as Judge of
the County Court, Arapahoe County). The meeting assembled in the
dining room of the Manitou House. M. B. Gerry was chosen tem-
porary chairman, and was succeeded by Judge Harley B. Morse of
Gilpin, Alva Adams of Del Norte acting as Secretary. Gen. Bela M.
Hughes and William A. H. Loveland were the candidates for Governor.
Gen. Hughes was nominated by acclamation, Loveland having with-
drawn in deference to the popular desire.
The following nominations were then made:
For Represettiative in Congress. — Thos. M. Patterson of Arapahoe.
For Lzezitetiani-Governor. — Michael Beshoar of Las Animas.
For Secretary of State. — Capt. James T. Smith of Jefferson.
For Auditor of State. — James F. Benedict of Weld.
For Treasurer of State. — Thomas M. Field of Pueblo.
"^
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 333
For Attorney General. — George O. Richmond of Pueblo.
For Superintendent of Public Instruction. — J. P. Groesbeck.
For Justices of the Supreme Court. — Wilbur F. Stone 9f Pueblo,
E. Wakely of San Juan, George W. Miller of Arapahoe.
District Judges and Prosecuting Attorneys —
First District. — R. S. Morrison of Clear Creek. Attorney, Piatt
Rogers of Boulder.
Second District. — Henry A. Clough of Arapahoe. Attorney,
Samuel P. Rose of Arapahoe.
Third District. — J. W. Henry of Pueblo. Attorney, John M.
Waldron of Huerfano.
Fourth District. — Adair W'lson of Rio Grande. Attorney, A. T.
Gunnell of Hinsdale.
Chairman of the State Central Committee. — Hon. Hugh Butler of
Arapahoe.
Mr. Patterson, though scarcely more than three years a resident of
the Territory, had become the recognized leader of his party, eminently
fitted by reason of his somewhat remarkable talent for stump speaking,
to contest the field against his accomplished adversary Belford, and he
was much the better manager. Gen. Hughes was universally respected
for his fine abilities, his prestige as a lawyer, his stainless character, and
the part he had taken in public events from the beginning of the Ter-
ritory down through its history. Both parties had put some of their
strongest men to the front, and each exerted its mightiest influence to
elect them. Routt made no speeches, but directed his canvass so as to
reach and talk with the masses in an everyday fashion. Hughes, being
a superior debater, took the platform.
The Republicans were effectively aided in this canvass by Mr.
Willard Teller, one of the foremost lawyers and debaters, a man who is
capable of presenting with clear cut analysis the issues before the people,
possessing extensive knowledge of political history and always effective
in argument, whether on the stump or in the halls of justice. His dis-
334 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
tinguished brother, Henry M. Teller, entered the campaign after his
return from the East about the middle of September.
The chief interest centered in the nominees for Congress, for
Governor and members of the legislature, the latter receiving special
attention, in view of the election of United States Senators. In the
election which took place on the 3d of October, the entire Republican
State ticket was chosen, together with a large majority in each branch of
the General Assembly. As upon the contest for representative in
Congress hinged some of the most stirring events of that period, it is
proper to give it such attention as may be essential to an intelligent
understanding of its nature, and with the further purpose of clearing
away, some at least, of the asperities which from that time to the present
have attended the acts of the contestants in that striking drama. Those
who were here at the time will recall the bitter attacks made by the
press, each upon the representatives of the opposite party for the
positions then taken. Having had some part in the discussion of those
matters from 1876 to 1880, and having since in my present calling of
historian taken the pains to search the records and reach the facts, I am
now impelled to submit them without the slightest coloring of partisan
prejudice, fairly and impartially, according to the result of a careful and
deliberate investigation. The conclusions reached may not be in exact
accord with those of my political friends, formed in the heat and excite-
ment of the stormy days of 1876, but they arc in accord with the record,
which is very full and complete.
On the 31st day of August, in the year named above, the acting
Secretary of State, Mr. John TafTe, issued a notice to each county
sheriff in the State, that the first general election for officers under the
constitution would be held October 3d. The sheriffs in their turn
caused like notices to be sent to the several voting precincts. The Sec-
retary in his proclamation enumerated the various offices that were to
be filled, among the rest, " one representative for the unexpired term of
the Forty-Fourth Congress of the United States." The reader is
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 335
requested to note the quotation, in order that he may the better com-
prehend its bearing upon the final result.
Again, on the 14th of September following, to give due and timely
notice of further proceedings, the Secretary published the following,
likewise addressed to the several sheriffs :
" You are hereby notified, that in accordance with the provisions of
Section 25 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, an election will
be held on Tuesday, the 7th day of November, A. D. 1876, in the
several precincts of your county, as provided by law, at which time there
will be elected a representative from the State at large for the Forty-
Fifth Congress of the United States," etc., etc., and directing them to
cause proclamation to be made of the same in all the voting precincts of
their respective counties. Obedient to such notification, public procla-
mations were issued, and arrangements made for an election as before.
During the canvass for the general ticket, much was said on both
sides relative to the October election being decisive for both the unex-
pired term of the Forty-Fourth and the full term of the Forty-Fifth
Congresses, and there were many in both parties who understood this to
be the intention. Mr. Patterson, however, did not so understand it, as was
evidenced by his speeches, for in a great many, if not in all the places at
which he addressed the people, he took especial pains to announce that
the nominations for representative had been made under the published
call of the Secretary of State, only for the unexpired term, and that a
subsequent election was to be held for the Forty-Fifth on the 7th day
of November. But as the campaign proceeded, the Republican Central
Committee, after giving due consideration, as they supposed to the laws
governing the case, decided to print Mr. Belford's name upon their
tickets for both Congresses, in the belief that the Constitutional Con-
vention, acting by the authority of the Enabling act, gave them the right
to do so. A short time prior to the election, a week or two perhaps,
this intention was made known to Mr. Hugh Butler, Chairman of the
Democratic Committee, who held differing views, but in order that the
candidates of his party might have an equal advantage, in other words
336 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
that they might suffer no disadvantage in the official count, proceeded to
have Mr. Patterson's name printed on the Democratic tickets in the same
form, that is to say, for both Congresses, yet in no wise yielding the
right to enter upon another campaign in November. Mr. Patterson
being absent in the mountains in a distant part of the State, and not
consulted, he knew nothing of the movement. But on the 7th of
September he had written Mr. Butler from Pueblo, saying, " The proc-
lamation to the sheriffs of the different counties only calls for the election
of one representative for the unexpired term of the Forty-Fourth Con-
gress. It does not mention the representative for the Forty-Fifth
Congress. This I think is right. I have always thought that the
member for the Forty-Fifth Congress must be elected in November.
Will you see to it that it is understood that only the member to the
Forty-Fourth is to be elected in October ? " There is abundant evidence
of record to show that Mr. Patterson made this declaration at nearly
every place at which he spoke. Mr. R. S. Allen, editor of a Republican
paper at Fairplay, in Park County, testified that as late as September
19th, Mr. Patterson being then at that place, caused Democratic tickets
which bore his name for both terms to be destroyed, and had new ones
printed with his name on but for one term, — the Forty-Fourth Congress
— and that these tickets were used in the county of Lake. Never-
theless, Belford's name went to the electors for both Congresses, on the
3d of October, and Patterson's to most of the counties in the same form,
but without his knowledge or consent.
The official canvass of the votes cast at the October election gave
the following result as proclaimed by the State board :
For the Forty-Fourth Congress Mr. Belford received 13,302 votes.
For the Forty-Fourth Congress Mr. Patterson received 12,865 votes.
For the Forty-Fifth Congress Mr. Belford received 13,532 votes.
For the Forty-Fifth Congress Mr. Patterson received 12,544 votes.
But Mr. Patterson then and subsequently declared and established
that, owing to the precautions taken by him not to have his name
appear upon the Democratic tickets for more than one term, the vote
HISTORY OF COLORADO. .337
as canvassed by the State board for the Forty-Fifth was erroneously
enlarged through a mistake in compiling the returns from Las Animas
County, where, by the testimony of the County Clerk it was shown that
his (Patterson's) vote for the Forty-fifth Congress fell short of that
received for the Forty-fourth Congress, by 1,219 votes. This we shall
not discuss, however, since he was beaten for both by Mr. Belford,
who had a majority of 437 for the Forty-Fourth and of 988 for the
Forty-Fifth.
Next came the struggle for the November election, for which both
parties made the usual preparations. The proclamation of the Sec-
retary of State still remained in the newspapers, whereby all the
counties were duly and legally notified that an election was to be held
on the 7th of November.
Chairman Wilson of the Republican committee, a week after the
election of October 3d, issued an address to the members of his party
tendering earnest congratulations upon the sweeping victory they had
gained, commending them for the zeal they had displayed, and stating
in effect that, as the Democracy were unwilling to accept the result of
the October contest as decisive for both terms, and were resolved to go
into another in November, the Republicans " must be active and go to
work at once, the first step being to look after the registration," etc.
He urged the county committees to give this matter immediate
attention. This letter was dated October loth, 1876, from the head-
quarters of the Republican Central Committee, and is referred to here
as a sort of prelude to subsequent events. Thus it will be seen that the '
Secretary of State had ordered an election for November 7th, the
sheriffs had repeated the order to every precinct in the State, and Mr.
Wilson had directed the county committees to prepare for an election at
that time.
On or about the 13th of October, before the official canvass of the
October election had been made, some of the leading Republicans, Mr.
Chaffee, Governor Routt and others held a conference in Denver, and
after considering the law in the case, and obtaining interpretations of the
338 . HISTORY OF COLORADO.
same by several noted lawyers, decided that there was no authority for
an election in November; that Section 6 of the Enabling act clearly
granted power to the Constitutional Convention to fix the date of
elections for representative in Congress until the next general census
in 1880; that Section 25 of the Revised Statutes of the United States,
which provided that elections for representative must be held on the first
Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and the amendatory act
of 1875 lia-d been virtually repealed, so far as Colorado was concerned,
by the terms of the Enabling act, therefore Mr. Belford's name should
be withdrawn. It was withdrawn on the 14th. These opinions having
been brought to the attention of the Secretary of State, he accepted
the same and revoked his proclamation on the same day, — the 14th.
Thereupon Chairman Wilson issued another circular letter to his
party, which, after reciting the fact that Patterson and Belford were
supported for both terms, and the votes so cast had been certified to
the Board of Canvassers, and certificates of election pursuant to the
vote so cast would be accorded to the gentleman who had received a
majority of all the votes, therefore, in view of the reasons stated, and
others that might be enumerated, it had been determined by the Repub-
lican State Central Committee to decline any and all participation in
the election called for the 7th of November, 1876. "And as we are
authorized to announce that Judge Belford declines to have his name
presented again for the suffrages of the people at this proposed
election, we recommend to the Republicans throughout the State to
take no part therein whatever."
Right there was where the Republican committee and its advisers
made a fatal mistake, as will appear in the sequel, though it was per-
haps a perfectly natural error, as the question involved was one that not
even the wisest statesmen could wholly settle after days and weeks of
argument, and which to this day remains In doubt. It gave rise to legal
problems which only the great learning and impartial judgment of the
higher courts of the land were competent to unravel in strict justice.
Belford wrote Geo. W. McCrary, and to Senator Edmunds for their
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 339
opinions, and received for answer that if the election for the Forty-Fifth
Congress in October was not legal, there was no authority of law for the
November vote.
Patterson entered the second campaign without a contestant. The
proclamation having been revoked, there appeared to be no machinery
for casting and counting the vote. In some of the counties the polls
Avere not opened at all ; in others only in certain precincts. The Re-
publicans generally abstained from voting ; therefore, when the ballots
were gathered and certified to by precinct ofificers, it was found that less
than four thousand persons had cast their ballots. Abstracts of such
votes were made up and sent to the Governor, but the State Board,
believing there was no warrant of law for the election, refused to make
a canvass of them.
As to the election of Mr. Belford to the Forty-Fourth Congress,
there was no dispute. Taking his credentials from the Executive he
went down to Washington at the beginning of the December session and
claimed his seat. Unfortunately for him, the country happened to go
Democratic that year. At that time, as will be remembered, all the polit-
ical elements were in an unprecedented state of feverish excitement over
the greatest presidential contest that has ever occurred in this country,
and both parties were figuring for every inch of vantage ground that
could be gained prior to the canvass of the electoral vote by Congress
in joint convention. Hence, when the question of seating Mr. Belford
came up, it seemed probable that the Democratic majority in the House
would deny the legality of the admission of Colorado under the Presi-
dent's proclamation, notwithstanding the fact that our Senators elect
had been accepted and seated without question.
At a caucus of the Republicans on the 4th of December, it was
decided to cast the vote of that party for James A. Garfield for Speaker,
and to insist upon the recognition of Colorado as a State. The case
was given into the hands of General Banks as manager. When the
roll was called, and Colorado reached. Banks rose to a " question of
privilege" and presented Belford's credentials as a representative elect
340 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
from the State of Colorado. The clerk who presided, gave precedence
to a motion by Mr. Holman to proceed to the election of a speaker; a
member of the majority proposed that the matter of Belford's right to
a seat, be referred to the Judiciary Committee when appointed, to
decide whether or not Colorado had been legally admitted as a State,
and it was so referred. This was undoubtedly a grievous wrong which
should never have been permitted to stain the congressional records,
nevertheless it was committed, but not without vehement protest.
The matter was retained in committee until December 12th, when,
by a vote of seven to three, the committee resolved to admit Mr. Bel-
ford as the member elect from Colorado, but the report was not sub-
mitted to the House until after the holidays. On the 3d of January a
majonty and a minority report were brought in. The latter, presented
by Mr. Hurd, maintained that the admission of Colorado as a State was
a legislative act, and Congress could not delegate to any other depart-
ment authority to make the declaration that a State had been admitted
to the Union. It treated the President's proclamation as of no value
Avhatever, because the law under which he issued it was inoperative.
The minority held that no State could be admitted, — despite the fact that
Michigan, Missouri, Iowa, Nevada and others had been received under
precisely similar conditions as governed in the Colorado case, — until its
constitution had been presented to and approved by Congress, and it
was asserted that this view had the support of some of the ablest
lawyers on the committee. The report concluded as follows :
"This minority believing that Colorado has not yet been admitted
as a State, and desiring to expedite the people of that Territory in their
efforts to obtain such admission, recommend the adoption of an act as
follows :
•'£c it enacted, etc., That the constitution and government which the people of
Colorado have formed for themselves, be, and the same is hereby accepted, ratified and
confirmed, and that the State of Colorado shall be, and is hereby declared to be, one of
the United States of America, and is hereby admitted into the Union upon an equal
footing with the original States, in all respects whatsoever."
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 341
The intent of this proposed action was manifest, — to secure delay
until after the counting of the electoral vote, since, if the admission
were to be acknowledged and perfected, the electoral vote of the new
State would have to be counted, thereby carrying the majority to Mr.
Hayes and against Mr. Tilden, as in the final count the majority was
reduced to one.
Proctor Knott of Kentucky presented the majority report, with a
resolution declaring Colorado to be a State, and that its duly elected
representative, James B. Belford, should be admitted to a seat. After
considering the provisions of the act which authorized the people to
form a State government, the committee entered upon an elaborate
review of the objections presented by the minority. They declared that
the provisions of the Enabling act which empowered the President to
declare the State admitted to the Union upon certain things having
been made known to him, was in no sense a delegation to him of the
will of Congress that Colorado should be admitted upon the happening
of a certain series of events. That will Congress expressed for itself in
the act. Nor was it a delegation of any authority to him to judge of
the expediency or inexpediency of the act taking effect upon the per-
formance of certain conditions. That judgment Congress formed and
expressed for itself when it presented the conditions. It simply em-
powered him to declare the legal result of a complete performance of
all the conditions presented in the act, on the part of the people of Col-
orado, namely: The completion of the compact between the United
States and the people of Colorado that the latter should constitute a
State in the Union.
" Believing that they have discharged these obligations, and that
every condition upon which Colorado was to be admitted into the
Union has been complied with, the committee recommend the adoption
of a resolution that Colorado is a State in the Union, and that James B.
Belford, representative elect from that State, be sworn and admitted to
his seat as such."
342 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER XVI.
BeLFORD sworn and seated — THE STRUGGLE FOR THE FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS-
REVIEW OF THE GREAT CONTEST IN THE HOUSE A LONG AND REMARKABLE
DISCUSSION PATTERSON SEATED EVENTS SUCCEEDING THE RATIFICATION OF
THE CONSTITUTION MEETING OF THE FIRST STATE LEGISLATURE FINANCIAL
CONDITION OF THE NEW STATE— ELECTION OF U. S. SENATORS — SHORT BIOG-
RAPHIES OF CHAFFEE AND TELLER ELECTION OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS
FIRST FEDERAL APPOINTEES HALLETT, DECKER AND CAMPBELL.
After a lengthy debate both reports were recommitted to the Judi-
ciary Committee. Finally, on the last day of January, 1877, after two
months of anxious expectancy, the majority report was taken up,
adopted, and Belford sworn and seated, to serve until March 3d, or a
little more than thirty days. It was not done, however, until after the
passage of the Compromise Electoral Commission bill. In the interim
it had been widely reported and believed that Mr. Patterson had
opposed both the admission of the State and the seating of Judge Bel-
ford, but I can discover no justification for such rumors. On the
contrary, Mr. Patterson informs me that he at no time, neither in Col-
orado nor in Washington, threw the slightest doubt or obstacle in his
way, but at the very beginning of the session in December urged
Belford's right to the unexpired term with the Democrats in the House.
Mr. Lapham of New York, a Republican, in a speech delivered in the
Forty-Fifth Congress, stated very emphatically that Patterson persist-
ently urged and insisted that the State had been duly admitted, that
Belford was lawfully elected, and it was a grievous wrong not to
admit him.
Reverting for a moment to the October campaign, it was then also
widely reported that an agreement had been entered into between
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 843
Patterson and Belford, whereby it was arranged that the successful
candidate in October should have no competitor for the Forty-Fifth
Congress, — in brief, that the first election should decide for both. The
basis for the belief, and the only one, was an interview between Mr.
Chaffee and Mr. Patterson, at the Teller House in Central City. I was
made acquainted with the substance of the conversation there had, by
Mr. Chaffee himself, immediately after it occurred. I did not then
understand that Patterson had actually agreed to abide by the result in
October, but that there had been some talk about it. Patterson was
thoroughly imbued with the conviction that he would be elected in
October. When before the Committee on Elections in Washington,
Belford, in answer to the question whether he had entered into an agree-
ment with Mr. Patterson, whereby the October election was to be
considered as decisive for both Congresses, replied, " No, I never did."
Rumors of such an understanding- ran all through the campaign of
1876, and the succeeding one of 1878, and Patterson was severely
censured by Republicans for alleged violation of the compact. In
August, 1878, Mr. Chaffee, writing from Saratoga, New York, on the
subject, stated that he had never said that the conversation between him-
self and Mr. Patterson " was an agreement, or in the nature of an agree-
ment." He then recites the substance of the conversation heretofore
referred to, and from diverse reports of which the public came to believe
there had been an arrangement of some kind in the nature of a compact,
in which it appears that Patterson expressed the greatest confidence in
his election in October, and that Mr. Chaffee declared he would be beaten.
There was some talk about betting. Then Mr. Patterson said (we quote
from Ml. Chaffee), " If I am beaten in October, I will not run in No-
vember, but will quit politics, and thereafter confine myself to the
practice of "law."
But whether this may be termed an agreement or not, or whether
it was observed or otherwise, has very little to do with the main question.
The fact remains that both parties prepared for an election in November,
and it was not until the 14th of October that the Republican chiefs,
344 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
having, as they beUeved, rightly construed the law to mean that the
October election for both terms was legal, and that all future elections
until 1880 must be held in the same month, that the proclamation was
withdrawn, and with it Mr. Belford's candidacy.
Both candidates went to Washington claiming a seat in the Forty-
Fifth Congress, Belford bearing a certificate from the Governor,
Patterson without further claim than an abstract of the votes taken in
November, and a considerable mass of testimony which he had taken in
Denver and at other points in the State. For the remainder of the case
we have resorted to and sedulously examined the Congressional Record,
from which the facts subjoined have been collated.
The first session of the Forty-Fifth Congress assembled October
15th, 1S77. The clerk of the House presided and called the roll. On
reaching Colorado, he made a statement of the reasons which impelled
him not to place the name of either claimant from Colorado upon the
roll. He had received a credential signed by the Governor of the State,
with the seal attached, declaring the election of James B. Belford on the
3d day of October, 1876. The law of Congress required him to place
upon the roll the names of those representatives, and those only, whose
credentials showed that they were elected in accordance with the laws
of their States respectively, or the laws of the United States. He did
not think there was any law in existence, either in the State of Colorado,
or any law of the United States, which authorized the election of a
representative to the Forty-Fifth Congress for Colorado on the 3d of
October, 1876. This being the case, and the certificate which Mr.
Belford brought showing on its face that he was elected at a time
unauthorized by either the laws of the United States or of his State, he
(the clerk) could see no way in which he could place Mr. Belford's name
on the roll.
In addition, Mr. Patterson had sent in a written protest, claiming
that he was the representative elect from Colorado, with a certified copy
of an abstract of the votes cast in each county in November, but it was
made clear that these votes were never canvassed by any board of can-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 345
vassers, and that no certificate was ever issued to any one declaring the
result of said election. Therefore, he could not place Patterson's name
on the roll. The upshot of the business was, that the clerk submitted the
entire case to the judgment of the House, when it should be organized.
This brought Mr. Hale of Maine, who had become Mr. Belford's
champion, to his feet with a resolution to have the name of Belford
placed on the roll as the duly elected representative from Colorado. It
was promptly ruled out of order, because Mr. Wood of New York had
moved the previous question on a motion to proceed to the election of
a speaker. A short time afterward Mr. Samuel J. Randall was elected.
In drawing for seats, one was assigned to Colorado to be occupied by
the representative who should be declared entitled to it.
The case then went over until the i6th, when Mr. Hale called up
his resolution and addressed the House at length on the subject of Bel-
ford's pr/nui /acie right to the seat. In regard to the claim that the law
of Congress fixed a certain day in November for the election of repre-
sentatives to Congress, he argued that Ohio, Maine, and other States
had chosen members to this Congress in October, but forgot to mention
that these States were expressly excepted by the amendatory act of
1875. He claimed that the Enabling act of March 3d, 1875, provided
for the full and complete organization of the new State, and for its
proper representation in Congress; that it clothed the Constitutional
Convention with power to fix the times for the early elections, and it
had provided for them in these terms : "The general election shall be
held on the first Tuesday of October, in the years of our Lord 1876,
1877, 1878 and annually thereafter, on such days as may be prescribed
by law." There was no time for an election for member of Congress to
be provided by any other body, since no legislature had then been
elected to take this subject in hand and fix a day. He then entered
upon a general resume of the election and the circumstances attending
the result. It may be interpolated here, that none of Mr. Hale's
speeches contributed to aid Mr. Belford's cause, for they were severely
partisan, hot tempered and ill considered.
346 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Mr. Harris of Virginia offered a resolution to consign "all the
papers in the case, to the Committee on Elections when it should be
appointed, with instructions to report either as to the prima facie right
or final right, of said claimants, as the committee shall deem proper,
and that neither claimant be sworn in until said committee reports."
Mr. Patterson's protest and memorial were then read, the latter in
the form of a printed brief, reciting all the principal incidents relating to
the election which have already been epitomized; Belford also furnished a
brief. A part, and rather an important part too, of the testimony taken
by Patterson in his contest, was a statement by Governor Routt, who
testified that "in his judgment Belford had not been legally elected as a
representative to the Forty-Fifth Congress."
Few examples of contested elections have ever received from Con-
gress, no matter which party was in the ascendancy, the care, attention
and candid discussion that were given to the one under consideration.
For days together the entire time of the House was given up to
debating the legal points involved. In reading the record I was
amazed at the earnestness and time expended upon them. Even a
rapid digest of the different arguments would fill many chapters of this
volume. Entertaining the partisan view of the matter which all the
members of the party, to which I was then, and am still attached, held,
until I had made an exhaustive examination of the complete record for
the purpose of attaining historical truth, I was disposed to share the
common opinion of Republicans that Mr. Patterson had acted in bad
faith toward his adversary, and had been seated in the Forty-Fifth Con-
gress solely because of his connection with the majority in that body
and regardless of the legal rights. Hence, I am impelled to give the
subject much more extended attention than the casual reader, who
neither took part in, nor cares for the facts in this famous contest, may
deem appropriate or necessary.
After the debate had proceeded to sufficient length to evoke the
salient points of the vexatious problem, Mr. Conger of Michigan made
this observation: "Mr. Speaker, whoever writes the history of the
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 347
struggle of Colorado for admission as one of the States of the Union,
will give a history of more varied and changeable views of the same
jaarty to suit different occasions than, I think, were ever presented in
any other subject upon which the historian has ever expended labor."
The record shows it. It is so interwoven with doubts and conflicting
opinions, and it is so extremely difficult to analyze and unravel the com-
plications of the various questions almost inextricably thrown about it,
as to open the widest latitude for the expression of views, without equal
opportunity for discovering which was rightly entitled to the verdict.
Stripped of technicalities, personalities and partisan bias, the whole
question hinged upon whether Congress endowed the Constitutional
Convention with authority to fix the date of any but the first election
for representative, in other words, for any but the unexpired term of
the Forty-Fourth Congress. The law of 1872, Section 25 of the Re-
vised Statutes, provided that in order to secure uniformity of dates for
the election of representatives, the first Tuesday after the first Monday
in November should be the day. On the 3d of March this act was so
amended as to except the States whose constitutions required amending
in order to bring them into conformity with the law, as Maine, Ohio,
Indiana and others whose elections occurred in October. It was claimed
by Mr. Chaffee, and by many able lawyers whom he consulted, that the
Enabling act made an exception of Colorado also, because it was passed
subsequent to the act of 1872 and the amendatory act, therefore re-
pealed or suspended said acts for the time being. But an examination
of the House Journal shows that while both the Enabling act and the
amendment of March 3d, 1S75, were passed at about the same time in
the closing hours of the Forty-Third Congress, the passage of the
amendment and its approval succeeded and did not antedate the
adoption and approval of the Enabling act, hence the latter could not
have repealed nor suspended the operation of the amendment in favor
of Colorado, and this, I think, was where the original mistake occurred
with Mr. Chaffee and his advisers in October, 1876.
348 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
In all the vast amount of matter contained in these debates,
extending through weeks of time, there is no manifestation except per-
haps in the remarks of Mr. Hale, of any other desire than to reach the
exact lawful status. It was conceded on all sides to be one of the most
perplexing cases ever brought into the House. The speakers of both
parties directed their efforts to its elucidation as a matter of deeper
import than mere partisan considerations. No man can read these
discussions without being impressed with their sincerity, nor without
discovering the complexity of the legal questions. While there were
many precedents of one kind and another, not one of them seemed to
fit this particular phase.
At the outset the Democrats were by no means anxious to seat Mr.
Patterson. They had a good working majority without him. Their
feeling toward him at the beginning was hostile. They remembered
him with sentiments amounting to hatred, for had he not persuaded
several Democrats to vote for the Enabling act, upon the jDledge that
Colorado would come in as a Democratic State, and cast her electoral
vote for Samuel J. Tilden, and had he not only disappointed them in
this, but caused the defeat of their greatest leader since Andrew Jack-
son's time ?
Returning to the original proposition, perhaps the clearest and best
review of the case was given by Gen. Buckner of Kentucky, who said
that the only question before the House was whether or not the certifi-
cate of the Governor of Colorado, showing upon its face that the election
was held on a day unauthorized by law, entitled the holder of such a
credential to a prima facie right to a seat. He held that the Governor
might have avoided all this difficulty by merely stating that Mr. Belford
had been duly elected according to the laws of Colorado, for, " I under-
take to say, and no one will doubt that if such had been the form of the
certificate, Mr. Belford would, unquestionably, have had \h& prima facie
right to a seat here. But the governor does not give such a certificate.
He undertakes not merely to give his conclusions of law upon the facts,
but he states a fact, which, according to my construction of the law,
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 349
proves that the election was invahd ; that there was no authority of law
for holding the election on the day upon which he says Belford was
elected. This brings us to the only question really before the House ;
and this question is not to be decided upon what the Constitutional
Convention did upon its view of the law, but it is for each member of
the House upon an examination of the authority under which the Con-
vention acted, to determine the question for himself. The rights of Mr.
Patterson to a seat here are not involved in this discussion. The
question whether the Governor or the State authorities issued the
proclamation required by law, is not before the House. Nor is there
before the House the question whether Mr. Patterson or Mr. Belford
received the largest vote at the election in October or November, or
what proportion of votes they received, or whether any particular county
did or did not vote at the November election." The whole question he
declared to be one of law, and the only law under which the people of
Colorado had a right to act after the first election, was the law of Con-
gress of 1872, and the amendatory act of 1875, providing a day for the
election of all representatives to Congress in November.
Mr. Southard said, speaking of the claim that the Enabling act
repealed the statute of 1875 ^^ 1872, so far as Colorado was concerned,
the act of 1875 exempting certain States whose constitutions had to be
amended, was passed subsequent to the Colorado Enabling act, and
therefore must be taken as the latest expression of the legislative will.
But putting this fact aside as of no material value to the issue, he
assumed that Section 25 of the Revised Statutes had no relation to the
case of Colorado or to any other new State in the act of forming a con-
stitution. That section had only to do with States then actually existing,
certainly not with Colorado, which was then a Territory. The bill for
an Enabling act was not introduced until a year afterward, hence it
could not by any stretch of imagination be assumed to come within the
clause of 1875 excepting any State "that has not yet changed its day of
election and whose constitution must be amended to effect a change in
350 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the day of election of State ofificers," etc. So the amendment had no
relation to the question of the election in Colorado.
Several members admitted that if the certificate issued to Belford
by the Governor had simply recited that at an election duly and regu-
larly held under the laws of Colorado he had been elected, it would
have constituted a privia facie case. But it was the legality of the day
which had been named therein that was in dispute, and which made it
necessary to investigate and see whether or not that was the legal day.
Grave doubts arose in all minds on this point, hence the importance of
deliberate examination.
Now much of the talk about what the certificate should or might
have expressed, was absurd. A certificate which simply stated that at an
election regularly held Mr. Belford or Mr. Patterson was duly elected,
Avithout giving any date at all, would be an anomaly in public docu-
ments of that nature. The Executive might just as well have omitted
the seal or his signature. While I have no authority at hand to sub-
stantiate the assertion, there is no doubt whatever in my mind that no
document claiming to be a certificate of election in which the date of the
election was left out, was ever presented to Congress and accepted as a
valid instrument.
However, the papers went to the Committee on Elections, before
whom Patterson and Belford appeared by invitation, and made ex-
haustive argument, each in his own behalf. In the course of pro-
ceedings before the committee the following stipulation in writing was
presented :
It is hereby mutually agreed and stipulated between Thomas M. Patterson on the
one part, and James B. Belford on the other, .that if laws were in force, and by virtue
of which an election might have been legally held in the State of Colorado, upon the
7th day of November A. D. 1876, for representative fo the Forty-Fifth Congress from
said State, the following number of votes were legally cast by qualified electors at an
election held in said State upon the said 7th day of November, A. D. 1876, for said
representative to the Forty-Fifth Congress, and which votes were divided among the
persons respectively voted for upon said day for said office, as follows:
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 351
Whole number of votes cast for representative to the Forty-Fifth Congress, 3,829,
of which Thomas M. Patterson received 3,580; James B. Belford, 172; scattering, 77.
[Signed] James B. Belford,
Thomas M. Patterson.
Setting all other issues aside, the reader will observe that Mr. Bel-
ford stipulated away his entire case in the foregoing instrument, and
having signed it there was nothing to do but abandon the contest and
come home. Still, it was not considered as a matter of much importance
by the committee, nor by the House. On the 22d of November, it was
brought somewhat sharply before the whole body on a resolution by Mr.
Hale, who had grown impatient of the delay, that the Committee on
Elections be discharged from further consideration of the contested
election case of Belford vs. Patterson. It had been twenty-seven days
in their hands, still no report had been rendered, and he proposed to
have it brought back to the House for determination in open session.
Mr. Harris of Virginia had been made chairman of the committee.
He e.xplained that the Colorado case was an extremely difficult one to
decide, that it embraced two hundred and seventy-two pages of printed
matter as prepared by the contestant, contestee and the clerk. It had
been sent to the printer October 31st, but was not returned until No-
vember 1 2th, when the committee met and invited both parties to come
and be heard. They came and discussed the question for two or three
days. After this the committee took up all the points involved with
the view of reaching, if possible, a unanimous decision, but they were
divided, "not upon party lines, but upon other questions, and some of
the members of the committee were not prepared to give any opinion
at all."
The venerable Mr. Wait of Connecticut, a member of the com-
mittee, of whom Mr. Conger said, " No truer or honester man ever
lived," and whose remarks were listened to with profound attention by
all parties, said, "There was but one feeling on the part of the entire
committee, and that was to agree if possible, upon a unanimous report ;
but while two or three of us had decided pretty definitely in regard to
352 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the merits of the case, and were prepared to say what our action would
be, other gentlemen said that there were novel and important
questions of law arising in the case to which they wanted to give careful
examination. A great many authorities had been read, embracing
decisions of courts and opinions of elementary writers, in connection
with arguments made on one side and the other. From the beginning
to the end, I have never seen on the part of any gentleman on the
committee any action, or heard any expression, indicating a desire on
his part that this question should not be fairly presented to the House
by a full, well-considered report, at the very earliest time that we could
agree what our action should be. The difficulty has been for the com-
mittee to arrive at a unanimous decision. Some gentlemen were in
favor of seating one contestant, others of seating the other party, while
others were in favor of referring the case back to the people of Colo-
rado for another election." He, himself, favored the seating of Belford,
but he wanted to have all the questions of law fully and fairly
determined. The contestants had been before the committee almost
every day, but neither had ever complained of the action taken.
Mr. Cox of Ohio, a Republican member of the committee, said, " It
woul4-be impossible for any body of gentlemen under the same circum-
stances to show more completely a non-partisan spirit than had been
done. I do not mean that we may not all have prejudices growing out
of party associations and sympathies ; but I unqualifiedly assert that if
they exist they have not shown themselves in the action or bearing of
the members. It was agreed from the first to push the case as rapidly
as possible. It was also agreed with great freedom from anything like
partisan spirit, that the committee should, as nearly as possible, take
upon itself both the feelings and duties of a court of justice."
Mr. Clarkson Potter of New York, another member, said, " This
Colorado case presents a difficult question of law, for the prima facie
question in the case is all there is of it, and it is a very difficult question
of law. I have read the brief on one side, and Senator Edmunds'
letter and the brief on the other side, and I made up my mind both
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 353
ways, according to the side I read last. If I ever met a law question of
the kind that wanted consideration, that required advisement, it is the
question in this case."
Mr. James A. Garfield made a lengthy argument, in which he
assumed from the consideration he had been able to give it, that Belford
had been legally elected. " But," said he, with characteristic candor, " I
am bound to say that I have never considered this case as free from
doubt as to the right of Belford to a seat. There are points in it which
have troubled and perplexed me. The principles involved are of the
very highest importance to the people of this country, and they invoke
the earnest attention and honest judgment of the members of this
House." While he admitted that men might honestly differ as to the
technical right of Mr. Belford to a seat, he would regard the seating of Mr.
Patterson as " a palpable and open violation of every principle of law."
The venerable Ale.xander Stephens of Georgia, said in the course
of his brief speech, that it had been clear to his mind from the first, that
Belford, having the only credential, should have been seated on his
prima facie right, and the case then sent to the Committee on Elections
for investigation of the legal points. Thus we find the Democrats
divided in opinion as to the matter of prima facie right.
But it is unnecessary to dwell at greater length upon the various
opinions evoked in this remarkable controversy. Notwithstanding that
every inch of ground had been traversed in all its bearings before the
case went to the Committee on Elections, it was traversed again after
the reading of Hale's resolution to discharge the committee. The
ablest men in the House engaged in the discussion. On the
6th of December, — the matter having been debated for days together
at different times all through October and November, — at the second
session of the Forty-Fifth Congress, three reports were presented from
the committee, who had been unable to arrive at a unanimous opinion.
The majority offered with theirs the following resolution :
Resolved, That Thomas M. Patterson is entitled to a seat in this House as the rep-
resentative in the Forty-Fifth Congress from the State of Colorado.
23 II
354 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Mr. Wait, on behalf of the minority consisting of three members,
presented the following :
Resolved, That Hon. James B. Belford is the duly elected representative in the
Forty-Fifth Congress from the State of Colorado, and that he be sworn in as such
representative.
Mr. Cox submitted a dissenting report, with this resolution :
Resolved, That no valid election has yet been held in Colorado for representative in
the Forty-Fifth Congress.
All of which were ordered printed. On the 12th of December, Mr.
Harris called up the case for the last time, when most of the day was
consumed in debating the questions of law. All the members who
desired, having ventilated their views, Harris moved the previous
question, which was ordered. A vote was then taken on the minority
report and it was rejected. The next was upon Cox's resolution
remanding the case back to the people for a new election, and this also
was rejected ; finally, upon the original resolution, which was adopted, —
yeas 1 16, nays 1 10, not voting 65. Patterson was then sworn and seated
(Dec. 13th, 1877), and thus terminated one of the most perplexing
contests that had ever been before the Congress of the United States.
We cannot conclude that Mr. Patterson was seated by a strict party
vote, for there were Democrats who voted nay, and Republicans who
voted aye, and there were sixty-five members, some of whom were Repub-
licans, who did not vote at all.
Again, we must conclude that had the other party been in the
majority it would have seated Belford, thus determining that October 3d
and not November 7th was the legal day for the election of represent-
ative in Colorado. How this could have been done in the face of the
fact that the law of Congress of 1872 fixed the first Tuesday after the
first Monday in November as the day on which all representatives must
be elected ; that the amendatory act of March 3d, 1875, could not have
applied to Colorado, inasmuch as it was expressly designed to exempt
States already formed, and whose charters required amendment to
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 355
enable them to conform, and not to Territories, nor to States which had
not yet formed constitutions, we leave to the lawyers who may read these
pages. It seems to be quite clear that upon the question as presented
the majority was right, and that, had the facts been submitted to the
Supreme Court, it would have decided either that the election of Mr.
Patterson was valid, or that, in view of the conditions under which the
November election was held, there was no valid election at that time.
The original error and the primal cause of all the difficulty lay in a
misguided interpretation of the powers conferred by the sixth section of
the Enabling act, the revocation of the Secretary's proclamation, and
in the withdrawal of the Republicans from participation in the November
election. Notwithstanding the claim set up, that the laws of the Ter-
ritory had been suspended by the incoming State, and that no State
legislature had convened to provide laws and election machinery, if
Belford and Patterson had made the canvass in November, in other
words, if a full and free election had been held as in October, the returns
would undoubtedly have been canvassed by the State Board, and a cer-
tificate given to the person who received a majority of the votes, and
such certificate would undoubtedly have been received by Congress
without question and the bearer duly seated.
Let us return now for a brief glance at events attending the
adoption of the constitution, which have necessarily been passed over in
pursuing the matter of Congressional representation. As the day
approached for the vote to be taken upon the adoption or rejection of
the provisions made for State government, the lack of hearty enthusiasm
everywhere observable, gave rise, if not to forebodings of actual defeat,
at least to serious apprehension of a very light vote. As much
depended upon the majority obtained in Arapahoe County, and to arouse
the masses to the necessity of polling the full strength of the qualified
electors in favor of the charter, on the 30th of June, a mass meeting
was held in Denver. The speakers were Governor Routt, Hon. G. G.
Symes, H. P. Bennett, Judge Blackburn, Hon. W. B. Mills, W. S.
Decker, Gen. Bela M. Hughes, Alfred Sayre, Gen. S. E. Browne, E. L.
356 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Smith, A. P. Hereford and others. The meeting was arranged by Dr.
R. G. Buckingham, as chairman of a special committee appointed for
the purpose. All these gentlemen exhausted their powers of argument
in favor of the constitution, and succeeded in stirring up a feeling of
pronounced activity for the measure. Mayor Buckingham, as a further
inducement, issued a proclamation, earnestly requesting the business
men of the city to close their several places of business on July ist,
between the hours of one and four o'clock, that their employes might
enjoy the privilege of casting their votes on this glorious occasion.
The election occurred on Saturday, and Sunday morning the public
journals brought news of a very gratifying triumph. Nearly ten
thousand votes were polled in Denver, and only two hundred and thirty-
six were in opposition. Governor Routt telegraphed the glad tidings
to the President. The same week the 4th of July was celebrated in
grand style. A great procession formed, and the populace followed it
to Denver Park, where a number of orations were delivered. During
the exercises, the Governor received the following dispatch from our
delegate in Congress, dated Washington, July 4th:
"Through you I greet the Centennial State, — the latest but the brightest star in
the political firmament. I am proud of the consciousness of representing the grandest
State, the bravest men, and the handsomest women on the continent.
Thos. M. Patterson."
From the Colorado department of the Centennial Exposition came
the following inquiry :
To Governor Routt: — "Are we a State?" Answer.
Stephen Decatur.
"Answer. -We are. The Centennial State, and twenty thousand here assembled,
send joyful greetings to the sister States of the American Union, represented at Phila-
delphia on this ever glorious Fourth.' John L. Routt."
Celebrations were held at many other points, and congratulations
exchanged upon the happy result of the popular will in the late election.
The result of the State campaign has been given elsewhere. Of
the members of the General Assembly, the Republicans elected nineteen
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 357
Senators and the Democrats seven; of members of the House of Rep-
resentatives, thirty-one were Republicans and eighteen Democrats. For
the accommodation of this body the R. E. Whitsitt building, on Blake
street, between Sixteenth and Seventeenth, was remodeled and fitted
up. The first State legislature convened at noon of Wednesday, No-
vember I, 1876. The Senate was called to order by Hon. H. P.
Bennett of Arapahoe. Mr. T. O. Saunders of Boulder, was chosen to
preside temporarily, and Wm. A. Hamill of Clear Creek, chosen Sec-
retary/re /^^w/^r^. The usual form of procedure was observed. The
permanent organization was effected by the election of W. W. Webster of
Summit as President pro tempore, and George T. Clark of Arapahoe,
Secretary, A. W. Kellogg of Boulder, Assistant, H. Stratton of
Larimer, Sergeant-at-Arms.
The House of Representatives was called to order by Hon. C. H.
Mclntyre of San Juan; David Ransom of Boulder, chosen Speaker
pro tern., P. E. Morehouse of Clear Creek, temporary clerk. The
members of both houses were sworn by Judge A. W. Brazee.
The permanent organization was as follows :
Speaker. — Webster D. Anthony of Arapahoe.
Chief Clerk. — W. B. Felton of Saguache.
Assistant Clerk. — M. R. Moore of Rio Grande.
Sergeant-at-Arms. — James D. Wood of Gilpin.
On the second day of the session the vote for State officers was
duly canvassed and the result declared. The first bill introduced (H.
B. No. i), provided for the selection of three Presidential electors by
a joint convention of the Senate and House, on the 7th of November.
It passed immediately and was approved by the Governor on the 3d.
The Governor's message was brief but comprehensive. The financial
condition of the new State was epitomized as follows :
LIABILITIES.
Warrants outstanding and unpaid $44,358.34
Other estimated liabilities 5,500.00
$49,858.34
358 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
RESOURCES.
From taxes available January and July, 1877 $65,000.00
From delinquent taxes former years
$73
Deduct liabilities say, in round numbers 50,
000.00
Balance $23,^
A tax levy of three mills was deemed sufficient to meet all the
expenses of the State for the ensuing term. His Excellency devoted
special attention to educational matters, setting forth the status of the
public schools ; counseled rigid economy in public expenditures so as
to avoid burdening the people, and made some valuable recom-
mendations respecting needed legislation for the several departments of
industry. Almost immediately after the organization of the assembly,
the contest for choice of United States Senators rapidly developed.
The members from Pueblo and the southern tier of districts advanced
the name of George M. Chilcott. A very large majority conceded Mr.
Chaffee's right to an election, and it soon became a foregone conclusion
that he would be chosen almost without division. EI Paso urged W. S.
Jackson, its most prominent citizen. Judge Moses Hallett had a
number of strong advocates, but it soon became clearly apparent that
Chaffee and Henry M. Teller would be elected. The Democrats in
caucus resolved to support as their candidates, Hon. Wm. A. H. Love-
land of Jefferson, and Hon. Thomas Macon of Fremont.
On the 7th, the two Houses convened in joint session and elected
Herman Beckurts, Otto Mears, and Wm. L. Hadley as presidential
electors. On the night of the 9th, the Republican caucus nominated by
acclamation Jerome B. Chaffee for the United States Senate. In
making the second selection some difficulty was experienced ; the
South made a vehement demand for recognition, but the members were
divided. Pueblo urged Chilcott, and El Paso insisted upon Jackson,
and as a result no choice was made. On the 14th another caucus was
held, and Henry M. Teller chosen, a large number of members from
the South casting their ballots for him on the ground of his pre-eminent
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 359
fitness for the position. On the same date Chaffee and Teller were
chosen by the assembly in joint convention.
Mr. Chaffee was born in Niagara County, New York, April 17th,
1825, where he was educated, after which his parents located in Mich-
igan. Young Chaffee subsequently removed to St. Joseph, Missouri,
and there engaged in banking. In i860 he came to the Pike's Peak
gold region, and, with Mr. Eben Smith, took up the pursuit of mining
and milling in Gilpin County, in which both acquired handsome
fortunes. He was elected to the Territorial legislature in 1861, and
again in 1863, when he was chosen Speaker of the Lower House. In
1S65, under the State Constitution (which failed of adoption by the
repeated vetoes of Andrew Johnson), he was elected to the United
States Senate. From that time forward he became the leader of the
Republican party in Colorado, a position which he retained until his
death. In 1865 he organized the First National Bank of Denver, and
through all the years from i860 to 1888 was extensively engaged in
mining, but devoted the greater part of his time and remarkable talents
to politics, Territorial, State and National.
Henry M. Teller was born in Allegheny County, New York, May
23d, 1830, acquired an academic education by dint of close application
to study, and paid for the same by teaching school between terms. In
1856 he began the study of law in the office of Judge Martin Grover of
Angelica, New York, and was admitted to the bar in January, 1858.
Soon thereafter he located in Whiteside County, Illinois, where he
began the practice of his profession. In the spring of 1861 he came
to Colorado and opened a law office in Central City in connection with
H. A. Johnson, the little tin sign on the crude little cabin reading "John-
son & Teller, Attorneys at Law." In 1863, during the Indian troubles
he was appointed by Governor John Evans, Major General of Militia,
and organized the forces for the first general movement against the
hostile savages. In 1865 he became connected with the organization
of the Colorado Central Railroad, drew the charter which passed the
Territorial legislature in that year, and for five years was president of
360 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the company. As a lawyer he was eminently successful. From the
earliest times he had stood at the head of the bar, and has not since
been displaced. He took zealous part in all the political movements
of his party, and in most of the public enterprises of Gilpin County.
In the great order of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, he was the
original leader, though not the first Grand Master. As its head and
governing influence for many years, he had much to do with perfecting
the splendid organization which is the pride of every member of the
craft to-day. For a long time he was its accepted leader and lawgiver.
Thoroughly familiar with its history and its needs here in Colorado,
he guided it by wise counsels to its present exalted standing. But the
fact which more than any other influenced his choice as Senator, was the
universal recognition of his fitness for the position. On this point there
were no dissenting opinions. During the administration of President
Arthur he was appointed Secretary of the Interior, a place which he
was pre-eminently qualified to fill acceptably, by virtue of his great
knowledge of the principal questions constantly arising in regard to
the disposition of the public domain and mineral lands. It was said
of him that he was the greatest Secretary of the Interior that had
occupied the oftice during the last fifty years. At the close of his term
he was re-elected to the Senate, where he still remains.
Our Senators elect were sworn and seated December 4th, 1876.
This being the first representation of Colorado in the Senate, lots were
drawn under the rules to determine which of the two should hold the
longer term. In the first drawing Mr. Chaffee drew the term of two
years, and Mr. Teller a blank. On the second Mr. Teller secured
the ticket which covered only the unexpired term which closed March
3d, 1877, ^"d Mr. Chaffee that which expired in March, 1S79. On the
9th of December, 1876, Mr. Teller was re-elected for the full term of
six years from March, 1877, the Democrats casting their votes for Hon.
Thomas Macon.
The presidential electors, at a meeting, selected Otto Mears, one of
their number, as messenger to carry the electoral vote of Colorado
S^Zi440.^iA4
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 361
which had been cast for Mr. Hayes, to Washington. The General
Assembly had adopted a concurrent resolution, recommending and
requesting the electors to employ Mr. Louis Dugal as messenger,
because of his distinguished services to the party in the State campaign,
he having acted as chairman of the Arapahoe County Republican Cen-
tral Committee, and had been named as one of the candidates for pres-
idential elector. The chosen three however, saw fit to adopt a different
course, therefore upon Mr. Mears fell the coveted honor.
On the 9th of January, 1877, the President appointed Hon. Moses
Hallett to be United States District Judge for the district of Colorado,
and Hon. Westbrook S. Decker to be United States District Attorney.
Judge Hallett had long been esteemed by the bar and the people as the
most eminent jurist of Colorado, and by many as the equal of any in
the country, hence, his selection gave great satisfaction. Judge Decker
was a prominent lawyer, a member of the firm of Symes & Decker; had
been an active adherent of the Republican party, a man of unblemished
character, of high social standing, and universally respected. Both
were immediately confirmed and in due time assumed the duties of their
respective offices. Judge Hallett's commission was received January
23d, just in time to enable him to qualify and take his place on the
bench and thereby prevent the lapse of the term, by the absence of
Judge Dundy. One of the first cases to be considered was that of the
Union Pacific vs. The Colorado Central Railway, the history of which
appears in a subsequent chapter.
On the 17th of January, William L. Campbell was appointed Sur-
veyor General of Colorado. Mr. Campbell was a professional engineer,
one of the first to lay out and construct public thoroughfares in the
mountains. He arrived in 1S60, built the Virginia Canon w^agon road
from Idaho Springs to Russell Gulch, in Gilpin County, had been a
mail contractor, proprietor and manager of some of the early lines of
stages, and to some extent engaged in mining. He took possession of
the Surveyor General's office February 24th, iS 77, with Mr. E. M.
Ashley (who had served nearly all his predecessors), as chief clerk.
362 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
The General Assembly having completed its work, adjourned March
20th, 1877, after a continuous session of one hundred and forty days, in
which it provided for a complete revision of the Territorial laws, per-
fected the machinery of State government, and passed many new
measures. Its record cannot be recited here. Its work is found in its
voluminous publications. As a whole, it w^as a very creditable body of
representative men, who applied themselves industriously to the business
before them, and in all things conducted themselves with proper decorum.
The closing hours were marked by no disgraceful scenes, quite in con-
trast to those of some, perhaps the majority of its successors. A com-
mendable spirit of economy prevailed. Hon. Alva Adams (afterward
elected Governor of the State, in 1886) was one of the ablest debaters
on the Democratic side, and honestly earned his soubriquet, " The watch
dog of the Treasury," by his incessant endeavors to curtail expenses.
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER XVII.
Progress of internal improvements — extensions of the rio grande railroad
— short history of the atchison, topeka & santa fe companies formed
in pueblo inception of war between the santa fe and the rio grande
FORCIBLE SEIZURE OF THE MOUNTAIN PASSES ENGINEER MORLEY's FAMOUS
RIDE ARMED CONFLICT IN THE GRAND CANON ARREST OF m'mURTRIE AND
WEITBREC — A GREAT BATTLE IN THE COURTS LEASE OF THE RIO GRANDE TO
THE SANTA FE— MANAGER STRONG's AMBITION RENEWAL OF THE WAR JUDGE
BOWEN'S WRITS RIOTING ALL ALONG THE LINE TROOPS CALLED OUT.
Having safely launched the new ship of state, it is proper to retrace
our steps for the purpose of defining some of the more important
measures in progress, calculated to advance the rapid development of
our internal resources, in which the reader will find some rather inter-
esting incidents that are not likely to be repeated in the future.
Track laying on the Denver & Rio Grande Railway, then, as now,
our most essential and widely extended artery of inter-communication
with the principal productive stations, was completed from Colorado
Springs to Pueblo, June 29th, 1872. The Arkansas Valley branch,
extending thirty-eight miles up the Arkansas River to the coal mines in
Fremont County, was put in operation November ist, 1872. The
receipts of the company for that year aggregated $281,400.29, and the
net profits above operating expenses, $106,193.97. From the report
made to the stockholders April ist, 1873, it was shown that the company
possessed the following inventory of rolling stock : Twelve locomotives,
seven passenger cars, four baggage, mail and express cars, four open
observation cars, two hundred and fifty-eight freight cars, twenty-two
dump cars, twenty-one hand and push cars, and two snow plows. Com-
pare this modest exhibit of rolling stock with the splendid equipment of
364 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
to-day (1889), the completeness of detail, the fifteen hundred miles of
well-ballasted track and the prodigious traffic which covers the line, the
cities and towns established, and you will have some conception of the
vast range of development that has taken place in the country it tra-
verses, which at the beginning of this enterprise was virtually a trackless
wilderness.
The second annual report published in the fall of 1874, gave the
following statement :
Earnings of the main line 118 miles, for the year 1S73, — freight,
$200,129.49; passenger, $190,986.34; miscellaneous, $1,538.06; total,
$392,653.89, yielding a profit above operating expenses of $195,529.58,
an increase of 88^ per cent, over 1872. The tonnage of the main line,
exclusive of construction material, increased from 36,272 in 1872, to
59,229 in 1873 I the number of paying passengers increased from 25,158
in 1872, to 34,696 in 1873. Eighty-eight per cent, of the traffic was
purely local. Of the 34,696 passengers carried, only 718 were ticketed
to, or from points off the line. In preceding chapters some attention has
been given to the sterile, bleak and inhospitable appearance of the
country at the beginning of 1871, when the daring progenitors of this
railway resolved to strike out from Denver to El Paso, Texas. The
average number of passengers conveyed by stages between Denver and
Pueblo, did not exceed three daily. The endeavor to maintain this
stage line bankrupted its owners Yet two years later we find this little
experimental narrow gauge carrying nearly thirty-five thousand people,
in the course of its second year. It seems almost incredible that such
marvelous changes should have taken place in so short a time and under
conditions so unpromising. It forms a remarkable feature of our annals,
that the supplanting of stages and the ordinary modes of conveyance by
iron rails and steam power, should effect such sudden and mighty
revolutions in the progress of the State, as are here exhibited, yet this
was only the beginning of the initial chapter. Still more stupendous
transformations have marked each successive epoch. But the road had
^^J
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 365
to pass through some terrible convulsions, involving wars, bankruptcy
and partial ruin before these later triumphs were achieved.
The number of narrow gauge lines in the United States and Canada
had increased at the close of 1873 to about 1,400 miles, built and in
operation ; there were 1,500 miles under construction, and about 10,000
miles projected. All that had been completed, including those which
had been partly built, had adopted the three foot gauge. The four
counties traversed by the Rio Grande road up to 1874, had increased
their taxable wealth from a total of $6,689,003 in 1870, to $18,602,217
in 1873, ^"d the gain has been correspondingly strong from that time to
the present. The increase in the twenty-one counties of the Territory
then organized was from $16,015,521 in 1870, to $35,669,030 in 1873, O''
nearly one hundred and twenty-three per cent. In population Pueblo
had quadrupled, Arapahoe and El Paso more than trebled, and Douglas
had doubled.
Notwithstanding the stagnation which followed the panic of 1873,
continuing until the beginning of 1879, the genius, energy and invincible
power of Gen. W. J. Palmer, ably seconded by his corps of vigorous
young lieutenants, kept the Rio Grande road pushed onward to the
accomplishment of the great designs in view. Leaving South Pueblo,
it struck southward to the bluffs of the San Carlos, to the Greenhorn
and down into the San Luis Valley, over one of the most rugged, dififi-
cult and costly routes which had ever been attempted, developing at the
same time some surprising feats of railway engineering. Meanwhile,
not a little ill feeling had been engendered between Palmer and the
managers of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, out of which came, a
few years later, the greatest conflict of its class in modern times. The
difficulty arose from questions relating to the distribution of traffic, and
the interchange of commercial amenities. The Rio Grande, in the full
tide of its prosperity, was disposed to be aggressive, acting upon the
theory that, having entered and taken possession of the southern country,
so to speak, and by the force of its progressive influence redeemed it
from a semi-savage state, it was fairly entitled to such advantages as
366 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
were to be gained. The Santa Fe came to be regarded as an interloper,
forced in from its headquarters in Boston, to overawe a native of the
land and usurp its rights. The standard gauge magnates resisted, and
a war of words ensued, but happily, worse results were, for the time
being, averted. The officers of the rival companies met at Pueblo,
talked over their differences and reached an amicable understanding.
When the little road reached Veta Pass, it began to experience
serious financial embarrassment, owing to the rapidity of its extensions
and the stringency of the money market. It had failed to meet the
interest on its mortgage bonds. Palmer proposed the funding of the
three interest coupons to May ist, 1878, and it was accepted. The
road, according to the statements rendered, was doing a paying
business, but was in danger of losing a considerable part of its profitable
traffic unless it could be extended still further to the southward. The com-
pletion of the Santa Fe to Pueblo, had reduced its carrying trade to
some extent, and there was a prospect that the Kansas Pacific or the
Santa Fe would strike toward New Mexico and gather in the trade
of that Territory by a line from Trinidad, or toward the San Juan
country, then coming into prominence. The narrow gauge had been
built from El Moro to La Veta, but it could not be safely allowed to
rest there. It was of the utmost importance to push it over the pass to
Fort Garland, in the San Luis Valley, where it would be comparatively
secure from exterior influences. From causes already defined, much
difficulty was found in procuring the aid of new capital, and the
resources of the company were severely strained to meet the more
pressing demands and continue the work. To increase its embar-
rassments, early in August, 1S77, a bill in equity was filed by some of
the bondholders, in the United States Circuit Court at Denver, for
default of the 1877 interest, and a motion entered for the appointment
of a receiver. This action was denied by Judge Hallett, because the
affairs of the company were not shown to be in a condition to justify
such interference. The same application was made to Judge Dillon
and by him also denied. The proposition advanced by Palmer to fund
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 367
the coupons to May ist, 1878, into ten year certificates, and apply the
intermediate earnings to the payment of floating indebtedness, and to
the extension of the road to the Rio Grande River, had received the
assent of a majority of the bondholders, and there was reason to believe
that the company would soon be relieved from its financial squeeze.
The road was completed to Garland about the 15th of September, 1877,
which gave it the trade of the Southwest, and to Alamosa, July
6th, 1878.
From the first of March, 1876, when the Pueblo and Arkansas
Valley branch of the Santa Fe was finished to Pueblo and opened, the
records of this company and of the Rio Grande were, for some years,
almost inseparably connected. The formal inauguration of the enter-
prise just mentioned was celebrated on the 7th of March, in which sev-
eral communities joined. Trains bearing guests arrived from Denver,
from Canon City and from various points along the Santa Fe and the
Rio Grande roads. They were met by the people of Pueblo, and
escorted to the Lindell Hotel, where they were welcomed by Hon.
James Rice (now in his second term as Secretary of State), Mayor of
the city.
What is now the Atchison, Topeka & vSanta Fe road, was orig-
inally chartered February nth, 1859, under the name of the Atchison
& Topeka Railroad Company. The existing title was assumed in
March, 1863. The first incorporators obtained a land grant from Con-
gress, which was transferred to the latter corporation. By act of Con-
gress March 3d, 1863, there was granted this line in Kansas, ten
sections of land per mile, or a total of 2,934,659 acres. Little or
nothing in the way of improvement was done until 1868, when a new
company composed of Boston capitalists purchased the franchise. To-
ward the close of 1869, twenty-eight miles of road had been built. A
year later the line between Topeka and Emporia, si.\ty-two miles, was
completed. In 1871 it was extended to Newton, seventy-four miles
west of Emporia. The next movement was to build three hundred and
forty miles to the Colorado boundary line, which, under the terms of
368 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the charter, had to be completed within two years or the land grant
would be forfeited. In 1872 the directors voted to proceed and finish
the line to Colorado, within the time allotted. In December, 1873, a
company was formed at Pueblo to build a railroad from that city to the
western terminus of the Santa Fe road. The directors were M. A.
Shaffenburg, W. R. Orman, George M. Chilcott, O. H. P. Baxter, J.
N. Carlisle, P. K. Dotson, Moses Anker, M. D. Thatcher and J. Ray-
nolds. The officers chosen by these directors, were Moses Anker, Pres-
ident ; M. D. Thatcher, Vice-President ; J. Raynolds, Treasurer ; and
G. W. Morgan, Secretary. The solicitors were Hugh Butler of Denver
and H. C. Thatcher of Pueblo.
In March, 1S74, Pueblo County voted a subscription to the stock
of the company to the amount of $350,000. Its title was the Pueblo &
Salt Lake Railroad. Subsequently Anker and Shaffenburg resigned
from the Board of Directors, and James Rice and Allen A. Bradford,
were elected in their stead. Soon afterward M. D. Thatcher was
elected President, O. H. P. Baxter, Vice-President, and Wilbur F. Stone,
Attorney.
Several corporations had been previously organized, the Colorado
& New Mexico Railway Company, the Pueblo & Salt Lake, and the
Pueblo & Arkansas Valley. All these were now merged into one cor-
poration under the latter name, with a view to the construction of a line
from Sargent, Kansas, to Pueblo. At a later period when the Atchison
Company decided to unite with the corporators named, Joseph Nick-
erson was elected President, Thomas Nickerson, Treasurer, and M. D.
Thatcher, Secretary and Assistant Treasurer. These officers, with the
exception of Thatcher, were also officers in the Atchison road, Joseph
Nickerson being president of that company.
In the course of their operations the county of Bent was induced to
vote bonds to the amount of $150,000 in aid of the enterprise. Such
was the inception of the branch line that connected the metropolis of
Southern Colorado Avith the Santa Fe system. It was completed Feb-
ruary 26th, 1876, but not formally opened until after the ist of March.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 369
This matter disposed of, we will now proceed with the course of
affairs which eventuated in a prolonged and bitter strife between the
Santa Fe and the Rio Grande, provoked some blood letting, harassed
the courts for years, and incited general disturbance among the people
of four counties.
Although traffic arrangements between the two roads had been
established, there was, nevertheless, a deep-seated feeling of jealousy
that seemed to require constant watchfulness. The Rio Grande people
comprehended that their standard gauge rival had entered the field, not
with the idea of stopping permanently at Pueblo, but to invade all the
paj'ing territory of which that point was the natural entrepot, — the
South Park, the Upper Arkansas, the San Juan and Denver, a territory
over which they themselves asserted exclusive jurisdiction, and it
became their leading purpose to head off these projects by occupying
all points of advantage, particularly the mountain passes, as fast as
their means would permit. The principal difference between them lay
in the fact that the Boston company had the longer purse. Gen.
Palmer being heavily handicapped by debts, had the greatest difficulty
in acquiring means to fortify himself against the aggressions of his
formidable adversary.
About the last of February, 187S, it became apparent that the
Santa Fe was preparing for another movement, but in what direction
could not be ascertained, though the suspicion arose that it was to be
toward Canon City. Palmer watched every avenue closely and pre-
pared to spring at the critical moment. The last week in February the
secret was discovered. The Santa Fe had plotted the capture of the
Raton Pass. Hundreds of men and scores of teams had been gathered
with the utmost celerity and pushed into the pass, which had been sur-
veyed and, to all intents and purposes, occupied by the Rio Grande.
The two lines ran side by side. Naturally enough, this sudden coup
created some consternation, and for a time there were open threats of an
armed conflict, but none occurred. On the 26th of February the Santa
Fe force completely occupied the ground in dispute and refused to be
24 ir.
370 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
dislodged. The people of Trinidad, hostile to the narrow gauge,
because Palmer and Hunt had avoided them and built a rival town at
El Moro, only five miles distant, openly espoused the cause of its
opponent and furnished it with men and sinews of war. In the pursuit
of its purposes under the forceful leadership of W. B. Strong, who had
been taken from the Chicago, Burlington & Ouincy, and made Vice-
President and general manager of the Atchison Company, and who
developed into one of the most determined railway leaders of the West,
the next advance was made in the direction of the Grand Canon of the
Arkansas River, the gateway, and the only practicable one, to the
mines of Park and Lake Counties.
About the 20th of April, 1878, Mr. Strong began grading a line
from Pueblo toward Cailon City, with the avowed purpose of com-
pleting the same within thirty days. The Atchison Company had
recuperated its finances, — which at the time of entering Colorado had
been at a low ebb, — and entered upon an extensive scheme of railway
building. Two and a half millions had been provided for branches or
feeders to the main line in Colorado, and there was a report that the
Arkansas Valley branch would be extended to Denver. It became
evident that Mr. Strong intended paralleling the Rio Grande into all
of its most productive territory, and that he had fully resolved to break
up that corporation. The situation in Southern Colorado daily became
more and more exciting. Both companies were in arms and arrayed
against each other in deadly hostility.
The contest for possession of the Grand Cailon of the Arkansas
River began on the 19th of April, 1878. The Rio Grande people having
possession of the telegraph lines, discovered the ulterior designs of the
Santa Fe by deciphering its cipher dispatches, and that they were about
to make a sudden dash into the canon. A spirited scramble for pre-
cedence ensued. Mr. Strong was at El Moro when he heard of a move-
ment by the Rio Grande engineers to cut him out. He instantly made
application for a special train to convey him to the spot, but was met
■with a prompt refusal. One of his surveying engineers, named William
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 371
R. Morley, was at La Junta. He was immediately telegraphed to take
an engine and run with all speed to Pueblo, and from thence to outrun
the Rio Grande force to Canon City. He obeyed, arriving in Pueblo
at 3 o'clock on the morning of the 19th. There he asked for a narrow
gauge locomotive to carry him to Canon, but it was denied. Palmer's
men had made arrangements to send a force of one hundred laborers
in the same direction early that morning. Unable to procure steam
power, this bold engineer mounted the swiftest horse he could find and
struck out under whip and spur for the mountains. It was a ride of
forty-five miles, and the desperate emergency demanded that horse and
rider should be strained to the utmost. Morley felt that he must, at all
hazards, beat the Rio Grande into Canon City, and having a few hours
the start, it was simply a question of endurance. When within a few
miles of the goal the horse fell dead by the wayside. The rider without
stopping, ran at the top of his speed the remainder of the way.
Arriving in the town where the sympathy of the people was given most
heartily to the Atchison cause, he quickly gathered a force of one
hundred and fifty men, and with them rushed to the mouth of the
canon, two miles distant, and by the time the Rio Grande force arrived
on the scene, half an hour later, had full possession. For this exploit
he was presented by Mr. Strong with a splendid gold mounted Win-
chester rifle, which subsequently caused his death. While acting as
chief locating engineer for the Santa Fe company from Guyamas, Old
Mexico, he attempted to remove the rifle from an ambulance, when the
weapon exploded and he was killed.
Exciting telegrams flew thick and fast over the wires. Bodies of
men were moved from point to point with the utmost expedition. Each
company had grading and fighting forces in the canon. The Santa Fe
sued out writs of injunction in the local court. Chief Engineer J. A.
McMurtrie and R. F. Weitbrec, the Treasurer, were placed under arrest.
Conflicts arose between the working forces. Engineers with gangs ■(bf
graders seized every available point in the narrow gorge beltf-vt-and
above. Arrests became matters of dailv occurrence, but the .Santa Fe
372 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
appeared to have the advantage. Meanwhile, the attorneys on both
sides were stripping for a gigantic wrestle in the courts over the ques-
tion of prior right. Hon. Thomas Macon represented the Rio Grande,
and Gilbert B. Reed the Santa Fe. On the 26th of April, District
Judge Henry issued an injunction against the Santa Fe. The conflict
in the canon continued, but without bloodshed. About the last of April
the cause was brought up before Judge Hallett in the United States
court. In the meantime, the standard gauge company held its advan-
tage in the Raton Pass, and had let contracts for the continuation of its
main trunk into New Mexico.
On the 6th of May the contestants appeared in the Federal court
on a motion by the Rio Grande to transfer to that tribunal the injunc-
tion case begun in the State court. At a previous hearing the appli-
cation had been denied, but was now renewed upon the plea of the D. &
R. G. company that, owing to the prejudice of the people, it would be
impossible for them to secure an impartial hearing in Fremont County.
And this was substantially true, as I personally witnessed. The narrow
gauge had scarcely a friend in the town of Canon. The masses were
almost indivisibly for the Atchison company, and they gave it every
possible aid and encouragement. The underlying cause of their hos-
tility was the same which had exasperated and alienated the people
of nearly every other established town approached by the Rio Grande
road, whose projectors attempted, instead of entering and aiding them to
leave them to one side and build up rival settlements near their borders.
It was a short-sighted, and ultimately proved a very disastrous policy.
Its fruitage caused Palmer and his associates interminable trouble, that
might have been avoided by a more rational and liberal course.
In the Federal court on this occasion, the Denver & Rio Grande
was represented by Wells, Smith & Macon, of Denver, and H. A.
Risley of Colorado Springs, and its adversary by Willard Teller, Gilbert
B. Reed and Charles E. Cast. Arguments having been heard. Judge
Hallett resolved to invite Judge Dillon's consideration of the case
before renderine a decision, but in the meantime issued an order
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 373
restraining both parties from working on the disputed ground, and from
interfering with each other until a determination of their respective
rights should be reached. He granted an injunction to the Rio Grande
against the Santa Fe, and permitted the one already obtained by the
latter in the State court to stand. Both parties were to withdraw from
the field and remain passive until the further order of the court, and
each was required to give bond in the sum of $20,000 with sureties to
be approved by the court.
In obedience to this decree the laboring and fighting forces were
withdrawn and discharged. Thus ended the first chapter of chronicles
in this celebrated case, but the war broke out again with accentuated
virulence, later on.
June 1st concurrent opinions were filed by Judges Dillon and
Hallett, and orders in conformity therewith issued by the latter. It
must be understood in this connection that the Santa Fe people had
conducted all their operations in the name of the Canon City & San
Juan Railway Company, a local organization whose franchise had been
purchased by them. The effect of the orders mentioned was to permit
the Canon City & San Juan Company to resume grading in the canon,
but to continue the injunction restraining it from laying rails upon the
grade ; the injunction against the Rio Grande to remain unchanged.
These orders were designed to operate temporarily until the case could
be thoroughly examined at the regular term of the United States
Circuit court to be held in July.
On the 9th of the month last named, the struggle was renewed.
Judge Dillon presiding. Lengthy arguments were heard on the de-
murrer of the Santa Fe to the complaint filed by its opponent. A per-
petual injunction was asked for, restraining the former f/om constructing
its road through the cafion. The whole ground was gone over again
for the purpose of advising Judge Dillon of all the material points in
controversy. Hon. J. P. Usher appeared for the first time as chief
counsel for the Rio Grande, and made an elaborate argument. He was
followed by Mr. Macon, who raised the point that the Atchison com-
374 HISTORY QF COLORADO.
pany, and not the Canon City & San Juan was the real aggressor ; that
the latter, if it possessed any rights at all under the general act of 1875,
had forfeited them by not only acquiescing in the action of the Santa Fe
in taking forcible possession of the line, but in practically aiding it to
carry out its illegal purposes ; that the Santa Fe, having no corporate
existence in this State could have no rights, and therefore both these
companies should be restrained and the injunction against his clients
removed, because they had the only and exclusive right of way through
the canon by virtue of the special act of Congress of 1872. The gist
of Macon's plea was that the D. & R. G. really had no contestant in the
case ; that the San Juan company was never organized for the purpose
of building a road through the canon ; that its capital stock originally
was but $100,000, and that even if all paid up it could not build three
miles of road ; that it was organized for the sole purpose of a cloak
for the Santa Fe, which had no rights under the law.
The attorneys for the latter made no reply, but agreed to submit
the case on its merits. On the 2 2d the matter came up again, when a
great deal of testimony was taken. J. A. McMurtrie, chief engineer for
the narrow gauge, testified that he made the first survey through the
canon in January and February, 1871, from Canon City to Twelve Mile
Park. In 1S72 he continued the survey four miles beyond, staking the
canon all the way. In April, 1878, he ran his line three miles further,
when he was stopped by the Santa Fe. Col. W. H. Greenwood testified
that he had been general manager of the Rio Grande road until July,
1874 ; that the survey through the canon was made by his direction, and
for the purpose of holding that thoroughfare.
After two or three days spent in the examination of witnesses, the
cause was continued to the first week in August. On the 23d of that
month Judge Hallett rendered a decision, which granted the Canon City
& San Juan company the right to go forward and construct its line as
surveyed. He found that under the act of Congress of March 3d, 1878,
with which that company had complied, that it was entitled to priority of
right of way through the canon over its line of twenty miles, as surveyed,
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 375
located and platted. The Denver & Rio Grande company were there-
fore restrained from any interference, and from constructing a line for
themselves, but might proceed, if they could without interference, to
construct another line, and if it became necessary, might, on application
to the court, be allowed to use the track of the other company. But the
Caiion City & San Juan was cautioned not to construct its line in such a
manner as to make it more difficult or expensive for the Rio Grande to
construct, and either party in case it considered itself aggrieved or
wronged by the other, might apply to the court for protection.
This was a decided repulse to the Palmer forces, but they resolved
not to stop there. They appealed to the Supreme Court of the United
States, and pending decision there, decided to construct their undisputed
line above the twenty miles covered by the Caiion City & San Juan.
On the 1 2th of September, the Atchison company consolidated
with the Pueblo & Arkansas Valley, and the Canon City & San Juan.
Its lines were in operation from the east line of the State to Pueblo, and
from La Junta to Trinidad. Its consolidated capital stock was $6,000,-
000. It proposed to build under the arrangement, from Pueblo to Cailon
City, thence through the Grand Canon to Leadville, through Gunnison
Pass, and to Park and Summit counties, with a number of branches
covering all the Rio Grande territory, including Colorado Springs and
Denver.
About the ist of May, 1872, Col. D. C. Dodge was made general
freight and passenger agent of the Rio Grande lines. He was thor-
oughly familiar with every detail of the business through long connection
with the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad and the Kansas Pacific. In
the wars of the narrow gauge with its persistent rival, he took a prom-
inent part and proved an admirable manager.
On the 8th of October, 187S, rumors of a lease of all the narrow
gauge lines to the Santa Fe company began to appear. On the- nth
they were confirmed. On the 15th there came a dispatch from Canon
City saying the matters in controversy had been adjusted, that both
companies' would continue their extensions southward, the Santa Fe
376 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
abandoning the Arkansas canon to Palmer. The papers were executed
in New York, October 19th, 1878, and provided for the transfer
December 2d. By the terms of the lease the Santa Fe agreed not to
build, operate or encourage any road, directly or indirectly, not already
constructed, that is parallel to, or competing with, the Denver & Rio
Grande's then constructed lines ; further, that the Santa Fe company
should not change the gauge nor lay a third rail without widening the
gauge or laying an additional rail over all the lines, except those between
Pueblo and the coal mines east of Canon City ; and any lines that might be
built from any terminus of the Denver & Rio Grande road or in extension
thereof, should be of three-foot gauge. The Santa Fe bound itself not
to discriminate in freight or other charges in any manner to the injury
of the Denver & Rio Grande, and when traffic could be carried at the
election of the lessee, it should be transported by the shorter line. The
rental was to be paid monthly, and when the Santa Fe took possession
it was to pay for fuel, material and other railway supplies on hand, a
sum to be agreed upon by two persons to be appointed by the pres-
ident of each road ; the sum so paid to be applied by the Denver
company to the payment of its debts, exclusive of stock in excess of
$22,664 P^i" mile. No provision of the lease was to be abrogated or
modified without the formal written consent of the trustees of the
existing mortgages of the Denver & Rio Grande. All litigation between
the two companies was to be abandoned, the narrow gauge road to be
extended to the San Juan mines and through the Grand Canon of the
Arkansas. The usual conditions of such instruments as to keeping the
leased road in good repair, etc., etc., were included.
At the annual meeting of the Rio Grande stockholders, held at
Colorado Springs, November 29th, Gen. Palmer presided, and most of
the stock was represented. The proposition of the Santa Fe to lease
the road was fully discussed, after which Dr. W. A. Bell introduced a
resolution to the effect, that the proposed lease of the present constructed
lines " be and the same is hereby ratified and confirmed ; provided,
hozccvcr. that inasmuch as certain acts are first required to be done, and
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 377
the lessee company is first required by said lease to deposit a certain
sum for supplies and property, to be ascertained as therein stipulated,
possession shall not be given until the President shall so direct." The
resolution was adopted. The lease was to run thirty years ; rental for
the first year, forty-three per cent, of the gross earnings, with a reduction
of one per cent, for each succeeding year to the seventh, after which to
the fourteenth inclusive, it was to be thirty-seven per cent, and for the
remainder, thirty-six per cent.
The stockholders re-elected the old board of directors, — Palmer,
Bell, Risley, Wagner and Hunt. The officers chosen by the Board
were : Palmer, President ; Dr. Bell, Vice-President ; Wm. Wagner,
Secretary ; R. F. Weitbrec, Treasurer ; H. A. Risley, Solicitor, and
D. C. Dodge, General Manager. Although the lease had been virtually
ratified, ill feeling cropped out from time to time, and it was clearly
apparent that the arrangement was far from being amicable. But the
Rio Grande was in hard lines just then. Had Palmer been able to
move his financial affairs successfully, no such compromise could have
been effected.
The Santa Fe in its progress southward, crossed the southern
boundary of Colorado into New Mexico November 30th, 1878, by a
temporary switchback over the Raton Range, to give passage to its
trains while the mountain was being tunneled. The grading had been
completed nearly to Las Vegas, 113 miles in advance.
The formal transfer of the narrow gauge road took place at mid-
night of December 13th, 1S78, all disagreements having been recon-
ciled. D. C. Dodge continued for a short time as general manager,
and W. W. Borst permanently as superintendent.
It was not long, however, before it began to appear that Mr,
Strong's plan was to sacrifice Denver in the interest of his main line,
and, in the advancement of that purpose, to divert the wholesale and
jobbing trade of the State to Pueblo, making that the commercial
center, and using the leased lines as feeders and distributors of traffic
from the base at Kansas City. He was at war with the Kansas Pacific
378 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
and Union Pacific, though he subsequently pooled with them when it
became apparent that his principal scheme would fail. The apprehen-
sion grew among the wholesale and jobbing merchants of Denver as the
evidence accumulated, that they were to be restricted to such trade as
might be open to them in the northern division of the State. The
Santa Fe signalized its possession of the narrow gauge lines by immedi-
ately raising the rates on consignments to the south, which was a con-
clusive indication of Mr. Strong's ultimate design.
Matters proceeded in this manner until March, 1879, when the
great struggle which began in the Grand Canon was resumed with
renewed vigor. The Santa Fe company demanded that they be
allowed to examine the books kept by Palmer's officers, which the
latter refused. On or about the 20th of that month rumblings of
another tempest became distinctly audible. The rancor between the
belligerents, though smothered for a time, had never been wholly
quieted. Now it threatened to become more wicked, turbulent and
irreconcilable than before. A prolonged and bloody trial of con-
clusions was foreshadowed, and it soon manifested itself in violent
action. Armed parties began to re-enter the canon, preparatory to the
soon expected decision of the United States Supreme court on the
question of prior right of way. Each party was sanguine that it would
be in its favor, and each resolved to be on hand at the moment when
it should be announced, so as to lose no advantage through neglect of
opportunities. Early in April the Rio Grande people, exasperated to
the fighting point by the movements of their hated adversary, began
preparations to retake and hold at the muzzles of rifles and shotguns, if
necessary, the entire system of roads which they had built, and which it
was claimed was being operated in violation of some of the principal
conditions of the lease. General Manager Dodge, who keenly watched
every movement, declared that the lease had been virtually broken by
the Santa Fe within the first twenty-four hours of its possession, and
so notified Manager Strong. Palmer, with his exhaustless energy, had
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 379
meanwhile, succeeded in making arrangements for ample funds to
extend his line to Leadville and to the San Juan.
The apprehension of an attack upon, and the seizure of Rio
Grande trains, stations and other property, became so alarming as to
induce W. W. Borst, Superintendent of the Atchison interest, to issue
a printed circular addressed to all the employes of the road, reciting
the events which led to its transfer, and stating that he had been
informed from trustworthy sources that Palmer & Co., regardless of
existing contracts, would attempt, by arresting the employes "on
trumped up charges," and by forcible means, to obtain possession of
their property. He cautioned them not to obey any orders save those
of the regularly constituted authorities of the road.
A show of violence occurred at Colorado Springs, in which a few
men undertook to break open the baggage room of the station at that
point, but they were fired upon by the guard and frightened awa)-.
About the loth of April Mr. Strong arrived in Denver to begin
preparations for a war which he knew to be inevitable, not in the Grand
Canon alone, but in the courts also. Palmer and his officers openly
asserted that the Santa Fe had mismanaged the road, diverted trade
from it, and was endeavoring to wreck it. On the other hand, Strong
asserted that the books had been spirited away out of the State by
Secretary Wagner.
When negotiations for the lease began in 187S, Denver & Rio
Grande bonds were quoted at forty to -forty-tive cents. In 1879 they
were worth ninety cents on the dollar. The stock was then practically
worthless, but had since risen to sixteen and seventeen cents. One of
the evidences of bad faith shown by Palmer was demonstrated by an
arrangement that had been entered into between the Santa Fe and
the Denver & South Park roads, whereby the latter was to be assisted
with funds to complete its road to Leadville, but that, owing to the
refusal of the trustees of the Rio Grande bondholders, it had to be
abandoned.
On the 2 1 St of April, 1879, the Supreme court rendered its decision
380 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
upon the prior right of way in the canon through Justice Harlan (Chief-
Justice Waite dissenting), that both roads were entitled to joint
occupancy of the narrow gorge, but giving the Rio Grande the prior
right. The Santa Fe was allowed to share the privilege under rules
to be fixed by the Circuit court, upon grounds of equity and public
policy. It was then definitely determined that no single company of
railway builders coul d pre-empt, occupy, and hold against all comers,
the narrow gorges of the mountains. The opinion, reduced to brief
terms, declared : First, that the Rio Grande was entitled to the prior
right ; second, that the injunction against it must be dissolved ; third,
joint occupancy under rules to be fixed by the court ; fourth, that the
court below erred in not recognizing the prior right and in enjoining it
from proceeding with the construction of its road.
Victory came to the Rio Grande at last, but its fruits were not to
be enjoyed until after the termination of another mighty battle with its
powerful antagonist.
Next came up for determination, the vital questions involved in the
motion to cancel the lease, and this with others of no less importance,
occupied the attention of the court for some time. The Rio Grande,
though granted its right of way, was estopped from occupying the
north, or advantageous side of the canon, until it should have paid the
Santa Fe the cost of constructing its roadbed thereon. While these intri-
cate problems were before Judge Hallett, the Attorney General of the
State, Mr. Charles W. Wright, interjected a new element of confusion by
entering suit to enjoin the Santa Fe from operating railroads in the
State of Colorado. The hearing was had before District Judge
Thomas M. Bowen, in the small town of San Luis in Costilla County.
He had previously obtained a writ of quo luarranto, intended to force
the Santa Fe to show cause why it, a foreign corporation, presumed to
operate railways in this State. Bowen heard the argument first at San
Luis, and later at Alamosa, when the Santa Fe promptly applied for a
change of venue to another district, its attorney, Mr. Willard Teller,
presenting some rather caustic reasons therefor, among others alleging
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 881
that Bowen was strongly prejudiced against his clients and they could
not hope to obtain justice in his court. Those who comprehend how
cuttingly severe Mr. Willard Teller can be when fully aroused to the
e.xpression of his deepest sarcasm, can well appreciate the penetrating
effect of his words on this occasion. It is sufficient to say that he went
to the uttermost depths in the arraignment and, naturally enough, met
a prompt denial of the motion. At Alamosa the court led the pro-
ceedings in a breezy rejoinder to Teller's attack upon him. The
papers took up the cause and sent the sensational tidings broadcast,
thereby intensifying the popular excitement.
On the 9th of June, 1S79, alarming reports filled the land over the
announcement that the Rio Grande fighting force organized for the
occasion, had attacked and driven the Santa Fe employes out of their
stations at Colorado Springs and Labran (Canon City coal mines), and
that armed bodies were marching on South Pueblo, to capture the
property there. Up to this time Governor Pitkin had remained neutral,
though repeatedly importuned to interfere, but he now began to realize
that serious trouble was imminent, and therefore issued orders to the
sheriffs of the counties threatened, to call out the State troops if unable
to suppress disorders by ordinary posses. There were reports of
seizures of property at Colorado Springs, and other points. Things
began to look ugly, and as if the military power would have to be
brought into action. But the reports were found to be grossly
exaggerated. The telegraph lines had been cut by Santa Fe men.
The Rio Grande manager. Dodge, sent some of his men to repair them,
but they were prevented. The disturbance at Labran was with the
Colorado Coal and Iron Company, and not with the narrow gauge
employes.
Again it was stated that a day had been fixed for a simultaneous
uprising to seize the entire system by force. The Santa Fe company
reported the matter to Governor Pitkin and implored him to send
troops. Other hostile demonstrations which, as a matter of fact
amounted to very little beyond bluster, occurred at Colorado Springs.
382 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Pitkin telegraphed the sheriffs of El Paso and Pueblo Counties to
preserve the peace at all hazards, and at the same time ordered the
troops in Denver to repair to the general armory and hold themselves
in readiness for marching orders.
The writ issued by Judge Bowen, enjoined the Santa Fe and all its
officers, agents and employes from operating the Rio Grande road
or any part thereof, and from exercising in any manner corporate rights,
franchises or privileges v^^ithin the State of Colorado, and in brief,
turned the entire property over to Palmer and his company.
Acting upon this authority, the Rio Grande forces soon precipitated
a conflict betwreen the State and Federal courts, greatly disparaging
their case in the latter, where alone the points at issue could be deter-
mined. But in the extremity of their wrathful desperation. Palmer and
his lieutenants, with ex-Governor A. C. Hunt, that whirlwind of energy
and indiscretion in the lead, took measures to carry out their aims.
They felt that the lease had been, and was being continually employed
as an instrument for the commission of wrongs upon them through
culpable mismanagement of their estate ; that if continued as they were
likely to be, would inevitably effect its ruin, not only through the far
reaching schemes projected by Mr. Strong for cutting it off from its
rightful trade territory, permitting it to run down, neglect of repairs and
the assistance his company were rendering to the South Park line, but
in his ulterior purpose of using it merely as a means of advancing the
Santa Fe interest, to the exclusion of every other policy in conflict there-
with. They saw many things which the general public did not see.
Notwithstanding the pressure brought to bear upon Governor
Pitkin by the Santa Fe for the employment of State troops in the re-
pression of disorders immediate and impending, he persistently refused
to interfere with the civil authorities, except in the event of an actual
outbreak, and then only through the sheriffs, leaving it to their dis-
cretion as to whether or not the military power should be invoked.
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER XVIII.
General palmer's circular — causes of the collision — the rio grande seizes
THE road great excitement GOVERNOR HUNT's TRIUMPHAL MARCH BLOOD-
SHED AND CONFUSION JUDGE HALLETT ORDERS RESTITUTION OF THE PROPERTY
FIGHTING AT PUEBLO DE REMER's FORTS IN THE GRAND CANON COL. ELLS-
WORTH APPOINTED RECEIVER THE LEASE CANCELED AND PEACE RESTORED
THE UNION PACIFIC AND KANSAS PACIFIC PRO-RATE WAR A SHORT HISTORY OF
THE KANSAS PACIFIC ROAD JAY GOULd's INGENIOUS OPERATIONS — CHAFFEe's
SPEECH IN THE SENATE — CONSOLIDATION OF THE PACIFIC ROADS — HOW GOULD
TERRORIZED THE BOSTON MEN ABSORPTION OF THE DENVER PACIFIC.
The next development in this interesting drama was an open
circular from Gen. Palmer, setting forth the reasons that had impelled
his company to take aggressive action against the lessees. Among them
were declarations that they had assisted the South Park company to
build its shorter line to Leadville, notwithstanding the refusal of the
trustees of the Rio Grande bondholders to sanction a proposed contract
to that effect ; that individual members of the Santa Fe company had
loaned the South Park money, and given it other evidences of encour-
agement ; that the agreements of the lease had been frequently violated ;
that the road had not been kept in good repair ; that rival companies
had been organized ; that a pooling arrangement had been made with
the Union Pacific ; that payments of rent had been irregular and various
outrages had been committed.
Then came the actual collision and a crisis. Bowen, by his writs
had directed the sheriffs of the several counties to take possession of the
Rio Grande property, and they began to serve writs upon the officers
and agents all along the line. From East Denver an organized posse
marched to the general office on the West side, at an early hour in the
384 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
morning. Finding it locked and unoccupied, the doors were broken
open and Rio Grande men placed in charge. Next, the round houses
were seized. A passenger train was made up under the new auspices
and sent southward. Postmaster Byers, in view of the alarming con-
dition refused to send out the mails, telegraphed the Postmaster General
for instructions, and was directed to send them by the usual means of
conveyance, regardless of the parties in charge.
Meanwhile, Mr. Willard Teller appeared in the federal court and
moved to quash Bowen's injunction. Many distinguished lawyers were
present, — Judge Beckwith of Chicago, Judge Usher of St. Louis, G. B.
Reed of Denver, and others eminent in the profession. It had become
the most extraordinary cause ever brought into our courts, and one in
which the masses of the people were interested. The excitement was
unparalleled ; war and rumors of war prevailed on every side. C. W.
Wright, Attorney General, after argument upon Mr. Teller's motion,
asked for a postponement, which was granted, — till next morning.
Telegrams poured over the wires to the Governor's office. One from
the sheriff at Pueblo was to the effect that an armed mob had seized the
Denver & Rio Grande property there and resisted his efforts to dis-
lodge them ; he had exhausted peaceable means to that end, and felt
that he must resort to force, but asked for instructions. The Governor
responded that he must act within the strict commands of the court. It
was not for him (Pitkin) to construe the legal effect of writs in the
hands of sheriffs ; they must act upon their own responsibility. Thrown
upon his own resources, later in the day the sheriff, with a large posse,
forced the doors of the train dispatcher's office. A number of shots
were fired, but no one injured. About dark the same evening, ex-Gov-
ernor Hunt arrived on the scene from the south, with a force of two
hundred men. They had captured all the small stations on the line,
bringing the agents away with them on a captured train. It was stated
that two employes of the Santa Fe had been killed and a like number
wounded. At Pueblo all was excitement and confusion, where Hunt
swept everything before him. Having made things secure for the Rio
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 385
Grande at this point, he advanced upon Canon City. The telegraph
Hnes and offices had been taken and Rio Grande operators installed at
the instruments. The Santa Fe was practically helpless. The situation
hourly became more and more critical.
At Colorado Springs Sheriff Becker took possession of the depot
and turned it over to Palmer. A company of State cavalry there,
preserved order.
On the 1 2th of June, — the events just narrated having occurred on
the nth, — Judge Hallett gave his decision. The application by the
Santa Fe to transfer the injunctions by Bowen to the federal court was
granted, and the writs virtually declared null and void. As to denying
the right of the Santa Fe or any other foreign corporation to do busi-
ness in Colorado upon proper compliance with its laws, such action could
not be sustained. The State might inhibit a foreign corporation from
doing business within its limits, but if such corporation came within the
State, and acquired movable property therein, the State could not con-
fiscate the same, whether it were a horse or a railroad. Judge Hallett
was recklessly assailed by certain of the public journals, upon the ground
of his prejudice against the Rio Grande ; accused of ruling steadily
against it in favor of its rival. But in the then heated condition of the
public mind, the magnitude of the contest, the violence employed, the
shedding of blood, the marching and turbulence of armed men, the
thousand wild rumors floating about, and the intense hostility of the
contending factions, the adherents of each party made unscrupulous use
of every pretext, real or imaginary, that offered in support of its own
cause, and in condemnation of the other, and the court did not escape.
On the 14th of June, Judge Bowen issued a decree placing the Rio
Grande in the hands of a receiver, and appointed l\Ir. H. A. Risley of
Colorado Springs, to execute the trust. The decision expected from
Judge Hallett upon the later questions brought before him, was post-
poned for a few days until the papers in the case could be filed in the
ofiice of the District court at Del Norte.
On the 1 8th a report was sent up from Pueblo, that the Denver &
386 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Rio Grande forces had erected a series of timber forts about the depot
at that place, and garrisoned them with armed men. It was alleged also,
that a reign of terror existed there ; that the streets were filled with
fighting men, and no one dared utter a word in favor of the Santa Fe
without danger of being assaulted. Guards patroled the mesa, and
held all the outlets. Similar reports came from Trinidad and El Moro.
On the 23d the Federal court opened in Denver with Justices
Miller and Hallett on the bench, ready for a decision in the matter of
restoring the leased lines to the lessee. The opinion was by Hallett,
Miller concurring. The decree was, that the property which had been
unlawfully taken should be immediately restored, when, if the Rio
Grande desired, it might institute proceedings for cancellation of the
lease. In view of possible resistance to the order. Judge Miller took
pains to announce with considerable emphasis, that the order of
restitution must be obeyed, and that any attempt at resistance would
prove disastrous to the parties engaged in it.
Respecting the prior right of way in the Arkansas Cafion under
the decree of the Supreme court, the Rio Grande might take possession
of the narrow part of the gorge by paying the Santa Fe the cost of its
constructed line. Three days were allowed for the complete restoration
of the road and property to the lessee. But Judge Usher asked for a
stay of proceedings until the receivership question could be passed
upon, which was granted. On the 3d of July, Justice Miller decided
that the State court possessed authority to appoint a receiver, and that
Mr. Risley had been legally appointed. The suit for foreclosure of the
mortgage and for a receiver had been brought before Be wen by Mr. L.
H. Meyer of New York, representing some of the bondholders. The
Santa Fe entered a motion to discharge the receiver, which was
overruled.
A few days later, after elaborate argument on both sides, the
receiver was discharged. On the 14th the court ordered all pro-
ceedings stopped in the canon pending examination and report by a
commission of engineers. Mr. Risley was ordered to restore the
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 387
property within two days, and it was done. This order having been
obeyed, Judge Usher made formal announcement of the fact to the
court, and immediately thereafter filed a motion for an order to restrain
the Santa Fe from operating the road, and for the appointment of a
receiver to take charge and conduct its affairs, until the Rio Grande
could be heard on its motion to annul the lease.
While these peaceful proceedings were being had in the temple of
justice, fortifications were being erected in the Grand Canon. Engineer
De Remer, with fifty men, had stopped the Santa Fe graders at the
limit of their twenty miles, declaring "thus far and no further shalt thou
go." When asked by what authority he stopped them, De Remer
answered, " By the decision of the United States Supreme court and
these fifty men back of me." Wild scenes of violence were being
enacted at Pueblo, through the wrath of the Rio Grande men who had
been discharged under the order of restitution. They attacked the
Santa Fe employes wherever found ; engineers and firemen were pulled
from their cabs and beaten ; threatening notices were sent to the station
agents, roustabouts and brakemen ; pictured coffins, embellished with
deaths' heads, daggers and cross-bones nailed upon their doors, with
orders to get out or suffer the consequences. The authorities were
powerless ; noisy demonstrations occurred about the station, and at times
blood flowed copiously.
On the 24th Judge Hallett announced his opinion upon Judge
Usher's motion for the appointment of a receiver, granting the same,
and appointing Col. L. C. Ellsworth of Denver to take charge of all the
property, directing him to retain W. W. Borst as General Superin-
tendent. The road was to be operated by order of the court until the
termination of the causes then pending. Ellsworth accepted and
assumed the duties. This result gave great satisfaction to the public,
but especially to the merchants. The road was surrendered without
delay. Mr. S. R. Ainslee was appointed general freight agent, Herman
Silver, auditor and cashier.
Matters assumed a tranquility that for months had been unknown,
388 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
continuing until September (1879), when it was announced from Pueblo
that chief engineer Robinson of the Santa Fe had received orders to
commence locating a line from Pueblo to Denver. Later, — about the
middle of the month, — it was reported that Jay Gould had purchased
the Denver and Rio Grande, that he would at once compromise the
difficulties and hasten the extension of the line by purchasing the
Santa Fe grade in the canon. That some arrangement had been made
between Palmer and Gould is probable, but the Santa Fe refused to
permit its execution. Nevertheless, it was announced on the 29th of
September that Gould had bought one-half the stock, taking all the
chances of litigation, the Gould and Palmer Interests to be equally
represented in the new board of directors, and funds to be supplied for
extending the line to Leadville and south into New Mexico.
To determine the cost and value of the work done in the Grand
Canon, and to arrive at an equitable basis of settlement. Judge Hallett
appointed Mr. A. N. Rogers of Gilpin County, George E. Gray of Cal-
ifornia (the choice of the Rio Grande party), and Sooey Smith of
Chicago (selected by the Atchison interest), a Board of Commissioners
to advise the District and Circuit courts, whether there was room for
another road, and to estimate the cost and value of the railway con-
structed wholly, or in part, from Canon City to Leadville. They com-
pleted their examination and filed their report about the 20th of
October, 1S79. In their judgment it was entirely impracticable to con-
struct two roads through the narrow part. The cost and value of the
work done was estimated in. detail, and on the 2 2d of November, this ap-
parently interminable case made its reappearance in court. Judge Beck-
with having retired from the side of the Santa Fe, Judge L. S. Dixon, for
many years Chief-Justice of the Supreme court of Wisconsin, but then
engaged in the practice of law, appeared for the first time in his place.
At the annual meeting of the Denver & Rio Grande company in
Colorado Springs, November 2Sth, 1879, ^^e Board of Directors chosen
comprised Palmer, Bell, Gould, Russell Sage and C. F. Woerishoffer.
A resolution was adopted confirming the action of the directorate in
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 389
providing for extensions of the several lines, and especially for an imme-
diate extension to Leadville, also repudiating the lease and requiring the
board to prosecute the Santa Fe for damages.
About the 20th of December, *a pooling arrangement between the
Union Pacific, Kansas Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
was reported ; all litigation between the latter and the Rio Grande to
be terminated and the narrow gauge made the distributing road for all
southern traffic.
January 2d, 18S0, a decision was handed down in the Grand Canon
case to the following effect : That from the mouth of the caiion to the
mouth of the South Arkansas River, the Rio Grande was to take and
hold the prior right of way ; that it might take the roadbed of the
Santa Fe in that part by paying for it at the rate determined by the
commissioners ; when paid for, all injunctions and restraining orders to
be dissolved and set aside, and the Pueblo & Arkansas Valley company
was perpetually enjoined from interfering. From the South Arkansas
to Leadville, the prior right belonged to the Santa Fe, or the Pueblo
& Arkansas Valley, by reason of prior location. Mr. A. N. Rogers had
been appointed a commissioner to ascertain and fix the points, compute
the cost, etc. If the Rio Grande parties elected to take that part of
the line they must deposit within sixty days, with the Chemical National
bank of New York, the sum specified in Mr. Rogers' report, when they
might take possession.
After listening to the decision. Judge Usher applied to be let into
possession immediately, in order that his clients might proceed at once
to push their road into the great mining district of Leadville, offering
to give bonds in any amount. But the court answered that they must
await the report of Commissioner Rogers. Judge McCrary, who sat
for Judge Hallett, decided also to make an order granting an appeal to
either or both parties.
Thus the matter stood until the 2d of February, 1880, when the
Supreme court at Washington gave its opinion on the application of the
Rio Grande for a writ of mandamus, to compel the Circuit court in Col-
390 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
orado to render a final decision in accordance with the mandate of the
Supreme court issued at its previous term. The plea was that the Cir-
cuit court had failed to obey the order to place the Rio Grande in pos-
session of its prior right of way. The motion was overruled.
Almost simultaneously with this opinion, the papers were being
executed in Boston for a compromise and general settlement of all ques-
tions in dispute. An agreement was reached on this basis : The Rio
Grande agreed not to build its contemplated line to El Paso, Texas, nor
its proposed line eastward to St. Louis. The Santa Fe on its part,
agreed not to build to Denver or Leadville. The Rio Grande was to
complete its line to Leadville, paying for all work done in the cafion,
and to retain possession of its road, the lease to be canceled and stocks
exchanged ; all litigation to cease. The amount to be paid for the
Santa Fe roadbed was the original cost of the work, less the cost of liti-
gation, and a bonus of $400,000 ; Leadville and other southern trafific
over the narrow gauge to eastern points to be delivered, one-half to the
Santa Fe, and the other half to the Union Pacific ; the Santa Fe to
stop at Pueblo, with the right in reserve to build a line thirty-eight miles
long to the coal mines on the Arkansas, where they ^should mine coal
only for railway uses and for sale down the Arkansas Valley. The lease
to be surrendered, and the receiver discharged. These negotiations
having been concluded, the suits were withdrawn and the road turned
over to Palmer. With funds to carry out its immediate purposes in the
way of extensions, the Denver & Rio Grande resumed the regular
order of business. Thus ended one of the most remarkable railway
contests, of which history has any record.
The legal talent arrayed on either side, comprised the flower of the
Colorado bar, with three eminent counselors from eastern cities, — Judges
Usher, Beckwith and Dixon ; Henry M. and Willard Teller, G. B.
Reed, Thomas Macon, Charles E. Gast, Major E. L. Smith and G. G.
Symes, all of whom the various intricacies and legal perplexities of this
extraordinary contest kept constantly active and alert. I can recall no
cause in our courts wherein so great a number of distinguished
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 391
attorneys were engaged, or in which so many really able arguments were
presented. Having witnessed most of the proceedings, I speak wholly
from personal observation. Among so many finished, eloquent and
powerful forensic efforts, it is difficult to decide without danger of
invidious comparison, which was the most pleasing and effective. One
fact was apparent to all observers, that the utmost vigilance of the
court and the attorneys for the Santa Fe, was required to hold Judge
Usher in place. Right or wrong, he lost no opportunity for making a
point in favor of his clients, and many of his points, more than those
by any other attorney, were promptly overruled. Each possessed dis-
tinct characteristics peculiarly his own, whereby one might easily deter-
mine who was addressing the bench without seeing the speaker, by
the style and manner, use of language, etc. Personally, I formed this
opinion : That the keenness, force and logical power lay with the
Tellers, Reed and Macon ; the finished, elegant rhetoric which charmed
by the refinement of style, and at the same time bristled with facts and
ingenious handling of the issues, with Beckwith, Dixon, Smith and Gast.
To illustrate the rapidity with which the main line and its branches
were constructed after the road came back to the Rio Grande com-
pany, the following notes are produced from the official reports of J.
A. McMurtrie, chief engineer :
Work on the extension from Alamosa to Espinola, New Mexico,
was begun February 20th, 1880, and completed December 31st of that
year; the line through the Grand Canon was finished to Leadville July
20th, 1880; the branch to Robinson, December 27th; to Rock Creek,
near Red Cliff, in March, 1882 ; to Dillon, November, 1882, and to
Grand Junction, December 19th, 18S2 ; the branch from Del Norte to
Wagon Wheel Gap, July 6th, 1883.
Mr. J. P. Mersereau was the first chief engineer of the road under
Col. W. H. Greenwood, general manager. Mersereau resigned in 1S72,
when J. A. McMurtrie succeeded him as chief engineer, who held the
position until 1884, when he became a contractor.
But the difficulty between the Rio Grande and the Santa Fe was
392 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
by no means the only railway emeute that provoked turmoil and
occupied a large share of public attention, and that of the tribunals of
justice. There were others which had their part in the exciting chron-
icles of this stormy period, before and after the era of completion and
consolidation, to which we will now turn for such consideration as the
facts may warrant.
The controversy between the Kansas Pacific and the Union Pacific
companies over the pro rating arrangement* demanded by the former
and strenuously resisted by the latter, prevailed until September, 1874,
when Gould, Dillon, Ames, and other directors of the Union Pacific,
and R. E. Carr, with T. F. Oakes, and other chiefs of the Kansas
Pacific, held a conference on the 30th of that month In Denver, at
which an agreement was concluded, a contract drawn and signed. At
this meeting the principal matters in discussion were considered and
the misunderstandings reconciled, in the interest of mutual co-operation.
The beneficial effect upon every department of commerce was direct
and immediate, but especially favorable to our trade with the Pacific-
States, with Chicago, St. Louis and the Atlantic seaboard. The prin-
cipals in this compact, to secure a legal adjustment of their differences,
agreed to make up a case for submission to the courts, and the lawful
adjudication of their respective rights and obligations under the several
acts of Congress relating to Pacific railways; neither company to
present any technical objections for purposes of delay, and both to use
their best endeavors to reach an early decision. Meanwhile, the
arrangements agreed upon were to be carried into effect and continued
until further notice. Col. Cyrus W. Fisher was appointed superin-
tendent of the Kansas Pacific and Denver Pacific roads. The time
made by passenger trains between Denver and Chicago under the
revised schedule was reduced to sixty hours. It is now thirty-four to
thirty-six.
Jay Gould secured a controlling interest in the Union Pacific road
in 1873, by the purchase of 100,000 shares of its capital stock. Sub-
* For beginning see Chapter IV, this volume.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 393
sequent purchases increased his holding to 200,000 shares. As the
history of Mr. Gould's connection with this road had an important
bearing for some years upon the course of railway traffic west of the
Missouri River, and a supreme influence in our affairs, a rapid resume
of that connection will be interesting. For part of the material facts,
reference is had to the very complete report of the United States
Railway Commission, appointed by act of Congress of March 3d, 1887.
The inception of the Kansas Pacific road lay in the organization of
the Pawnee & Western Railway company which applied to Congress
for a land grant. Its interests were subsequently transferred to
Fremont and Hallett, who transferred in turn to the Kansas Pacific
Railway company. The original corporators proposed to make the
city of Leavenworth the initial point, but lack of enterprise by the cap-
italists of that place, who rested secure in the belief that the road would
be started from that point anyhow, caused them to decline the overtures
for material aid, so the projectors went to Kansas City, where the
demand was promptly accepted, and in the subsequent construction of
the road, Leavenworth was sorely punished for her delinquency by
being left on a distant side track.
In 1865 the name was changed to the Union Pacific, Eastern
Division. The act of Congress of 1862 gave this corporation authority
to construct a line from Kansas City, westwardly and form a junction
with the Union Pacific on the one hundredth meridian. The original
scheme contemplated a Pacific road commencing on the meridian just
named, where the various corporations, starting from different points,
should converge. By Section 14, of a later act, the Union Pacific itself
began at a point on the western boundary of the State of Iowa, fixed by
the President of the United States.
In 1862 Iowa had no railway completed within two hundred miles
of the Missouri River, the only line from the North to that turbid
stream being the Hannibal & St. Joe. The advantage whereby the
States of Iowa and Nebraska acquired, the one the initial point, and
the other the actual starting point of the Pacific Railway, was the work
394 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
of the Iowa delegation in Congress, who secured the right to build a
branch from the w'estern boundary of their State to connect with the
Pacific road about 250 miles from the starting point, and it was to have
the same rights and privileges as the Kansas Pacific in that connection.
Congress fixed the starting point of the Pacific road at the one
hundredth meridian, or western boundary of Kansas, simply because it
could not charter a railway through a State, but Nebraska being a
Territory, the movement made by the Iowa people secured by appro-
priate legislation the location of the main line through that Territory.
Congress willingly encouraged the proposed construction of a series
of roads from the river westward. By authority of the act of July 3d,
1866, the eastern division changed its route to connect at or near
Denver. The work began in 1S65, and by the close of 1S6S, 400 miles
had been put in operation. The government subsidy ended at 393
miles west of Kansas City. The remainder of its construction history
up to 1870-71, is set forth in our first volume.
According to the report of the railway commissioners, the total
gross traffic of the Kansas Pacific road from 1867 to 1879 inclusive,
Amounted to $41,645,174.22
Operating expenses 32,424,956.12
Net earnings over operating expenses, 13 years. . $9,220,218.10
But after deducting bond and interest account, and accrued interest
to the government, there remained a deficit of $11,330,772.42. The
road became hopelessly insolvent in 1873, and a year later went into
the hands of Henry Villard and C. S. Greeley, receivers, where it
remained some years.
In April, 1875, a convention of the principal directors in the Union
Pacific and Kansas Pacific roads was held in Philadelphia, with a view to
.perfecting arrangements for the consolidation with the two main lines, of
the Colorado Central, Denver Pacific and the Boulder Valley roads.
The announcement of this result shortly afterward, caused a sharp
advance of Kansas Pacific shares. The Union Pacific agreed to merge
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 395
its Colorado Central into the Kansas Pacific, and in compensation was
to receive $10,000,000 of consolidated stock. The old directors retired
and were succeeded by Sidney Dillon, Jay Gould, James D. Smith,
Oliver Ames arad others, of the Union Pacific. The combination was to
enjoy all the Colorado traffic, while the Kansas Pacific relinquished its
demand for a pro rate, and to all New Mexican business that did not
naturally strike in its direction. It was this arrangement which incited
Mr. Loveland and his coadjutors to seize, hold and operate the Colorado
Central road in 1876, as set forth in the succeeding chapter.
As one of the results of the embargo placed upon the trade of
Colorado with the Pacific States, whence was derived our supply of
domestic fruits, our merchants were compelled to endure the most out-
rageous extortions and discriminations. Witness the following: The
rate on fruits, by the car of 20,000 pounds from California to New York,
over the Union Pacific road and its connections, was $656 ; to Chicago,
$500; to Omaha, $425, and to Denver, $515.
The rate from California via the Central Pacific to Ogden (516
miles), was $178 per car; from Ogden to Cheyenne, $247, and from
Cheyenne to Denver (106 miles), $90, thus piling up the charges on a
single car of California fruit at the point of delivery in this city, to $515.
This is but a fair example of the robberies committed by the Union
Pacific, a road that was built with the money of the people, taken out of
the public treasury for their advantage and benefit, a large part of which,
by the way, was deliberately stolen, and the road made an instrument of
oppression.
The scheme of consolidation having miscarried by the resolute
action of the Colorado stockholders, the business of the country settled
back to the old grinding and exasperating conditions. There was no
prospect of relief in any direction. At length, however, the Union
Pacific, determined on crushing out both roads, the Kansas Pacific and
Denver Pacific, made its plans for the extension of the Colorado Central
from Longmont to Cheyenne. Then the Denver Pacific people began
to comprehend the effect of such a project upon that property. It
396 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
would not only be destroyed as an artery of commerce, but the Union
Pacific, in addition to continuing the embargo against our Western trade
via the Kansas Pacific, would secure and control the Colorado business in
and out. The Denver Pacific was in the hands of a receiver, — D. M.
Edgerton. Our merchants viewing the situation with alarm, urged a
compromise on any terms the Union Pacific might demand, but it was
too late. On the 27th of June, 1877, a conference was held between
the commissioners of Arapahoe County, which held a million of stock in
the road, and the receiver and ofiicers of the Denver Pacific, to discover
what might be done to rescue the property from destruction. The
commissioners had already commenced an action in the United States
court for a temporary injunction and the appointment of a receiver, and
to obtain an accounting with the Kansas Pacific company on an alle-
gation that a majority of the trustees of the Denver Pacific company had
been committing frauds, and thus deprived the company of funds which
rightly belonged to it. Among other things, they demanded that the
road should be managed for its own benefit, regardless of the Kansas
Pacific to which it had been tied ; that reasonable freight and passenger
tariffs for local and through traffic should be adopted instead of the
extortions that had been practiced, and that close connections, instead of
no connection at all, should be made with the Union Pacific at Chey-
enne, so as to encourage and not impede communication ; that the main
offices of the company be kept in Denver instead of at Kansas City ;
that the earnings be applied to operating expenses, and the surplus to
the payment of interest on its bonds, and finally, that the disastrous con-
tentions between its managers and those of the Union Pacific be brought
to an end. These demands were formulated and sent to the Kansas
Pacific directors at St. Louis, and they assented to them. Edgerton
went before the County Commissioners and informed them that their
protocol had been accepted and all their desires conceded to be just and
proper. Governor Evans, one of the trustees of the Denver Pacific
bondholders, being present, did not agree to the proposition, because, in
his opinion, it would not accomplish the object in view. The suit in
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 397
court should be pushed to its conclusion. He wanted an accounting for
the funds which it was alleged had been misapplied. Furthermore, if
the compromise were intended to dissuade the Union Pacific from its
purpose to build to Cheyenne, it would fail, because he had talked with
Gould and Dillon and found them unalterably determined to build that
line. The delay in coming to an agreement had exhausted their patience,
and they would now force the issue. Mr. D. H. Moffat, treasurer of the
Denver Pacific, however, still believing that the matter could be amicably
arranged, persuaded the commissioners to agree to withdraw their suit.
But it was of no avail. Gould and Dillon entered almost immediately
upon the prosecution of their design, and the road was built.
In the meantime, Jerome B. Chaffee had been elected to the
Senate. His first effort in the way of legislation for Colorado was a
masterly arrangement of all the facts relating to the question of pro
rate between the Kansas Pacific and the Union Pacific roads. When
in order they were presented in a speech of great power, which not
only attracted the attention of the ablest men in that body, but proved
the beginning of a final settlement of the whole question. He sub-
mitted facts and figures to prove that the Union Pacific road, which had
been built with the funds of the government at an enormous profit to
the company, instead of answering the purpose of its creation, had been
made an instrument for merciless extortions, solely for the profit of its
managers and principal stockholders. He demonstrated by an array of
unanswerable evidence that it was being used to vex, annoy and rob
the people ; that it had set up a gigantic monopoly out of which by
skillful manipulation and the most outrageous exactions it had made
$23,000,000 in constructing the road and great profits by operating it at
the expense of the public. His speech was prefaced by the following
preamble and resolution :
Whereas, Congress did provide in tlie act of July ist, 1862, being an act entitled
"An act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri
River to the Pacific Ocean;" and also by the subsequent acts of July ;d, 1S64, March
3d, 1869, and June 20th, 1874, amendatory thereof, that said road and branches should
398 ■ HISTORY OF COLORADO.
be operated and used for all purposes of communication, travel and transportation, so
far as the public and government are concerned, as one connected and continuous line
without discrimination of any kind in favor of the business of any or either of said
companies, or adverse to the road or business of any or either of the others, and upon
such basis and contract with the said railroad company and its branches did grant to
the Union Pacific Railroad company and branch companies large subsidies in bonds
and lands of the United States, all for the puipose of aiding in the construction of said
roads to be operated as aforesaid; and
Whereas, It is alleged that the said Union Pacific Railroad company and its
branch companies, being the Kansas Pacific, the Denver Pacific, the Central Pacific of
California, the Burlington and Missouri River company, and the Sioux City branch,
have heretofore neglected, and still do neglect and refuse to operate their roads in
accordance with said acts of Congress, but have heretofore operated, and still do
operate them in open violation of the same; and
Whereas, It is alleged, that by reason of said defaults and on account of the
same, the government of the United States and the public have been, and are still
being damaged and deprived of their just and lawful rights and privileges as stipu-
lated, defined and agreed upon in said acts; therefore, be it
Resolved, That the President of the United States be and he is hereby requested
to inform the Senate what legal impediments, if any, exist which prevent him from
executing said laws in accordance with the obligations accepted, and agreements made
by said Union Pacific Railroad company and branches with the United States, as
stipulated and agreed upon in the several acts aforesaid.
The speech and resolution, and the attention attracted to the
subject, together with Chaffee's well known energy in fighting out his
battles, spread consternation among the Union Pacific syndicates, and
at once brought the new Senator into great prominence. Poppleton,
the attorney of the railway company, apprehending the effect, tele-
graphed from Omaha to have action upon Chaffee's resolution post-
l^oned for a short time, pending a decision upon the points in con-
troversy by Judge Dillon. The Senators from Nebraska offered
substitutes, both modifying, and, in effect, destroying the principal
points raised by Mr. Chaffee. Senator Thurman of Ohio became the
leading champion of the original resolution, and made a lengthy argu-
ment in its support, claiming that Congress had a right under the power
of its acts to make the Union Pacific pro rate with every road that
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 399
tapped it, no matter by what authority it was buik. He quoted and
analyzed the laws, especially that of 1874, which declared that the
Denver Pacific should be considered a part of the Kansas branch, and
made it a penal offence for the officers of the Union Pacific not to treat
it as a branch, giving the injured party the right to bring an action in
the courts for damages in case of such refusal. He believed in com-
pelling the Pacific road by all the power of the government, if need be,
to pro rate with the Kansas line, and to acknowledge it as a branch road.
The resolution went to the President, who referred it to the Sec-
retary of the Interior, and he to the Attorney General, to examine and
report the facts and the law on the subject. By the force of these pro-
ceedings it became manifest that the Union Pacific would be compelled
to obey the law. Toward the last of December, 1877, orders were issued
to cease charging prohibitory rates east and west of Cheyenne, and
return to reasonable tariffs. On the 14th of April, 1878, Mr. Chaffee
made another speech on the Pacific Railroad bill, exposing still further,
the ruinous effects of the discriminations practiced on local traffic.
At the election of directors for the Kansas Pacific held at Lawrence,
May 2d, 1878, Dillon, Ames and Gould were chosen, which indicated
that a compromise had been reached, and also an early consolidation of
the roads. Soon afterward the Kit Carson branch to West Las Animas
was sold at public auction, and the rails taken up. On the 2 2d of
October, Sylvester T. Smith was appointed receiver of the Kansas
Pacific by Judge Foster. Mr. Smith had been connected with it from
its incejDtion, most of the time as auditor. Under his management the
road was practically rebuilt and put in good order.
March 7th, 1879, the Union Pacific assumed control, and .Smith
was discharged as receiver, June 4th. The manner in which Gould and
his confederates obtained possession is thus defined by the report of
the railway commissioners heretofore referred to. In 1877, the com-
l^any being in desperate straits, and to prevent a foreclosure, issued a
funding mortgage amounting to $1,500,000, to pay its defaulted
coupons. Denver Pacific stock amounting to 29,979 shares, was trans-
400 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
ferred with other securities, to the trustees of that mortgage. At this
time the securities of the road were selHng at very low prices. The
company was badly involved in debt, and engaged in an expensive war
with the Union Pacific in its efforts to compel a pro rate, therefore,
Gould and his associates, having undoubtedly conceived a scheme for
the absorption of the property at a mere nominal cost, began to
purchase these securities in a quiet way. In this manner several
million dollars worth of the stock, income bonds, Denver extension
bonds, funding bonds, etc., etc., were collected. Their scheme being
perfected in 1878, they began preparations for the reorganization of the
Kansas Pacific and Denver Pacific companies on this plan :
A committee was to be formed to hold the securities of the com-
pany which should be delivered to it at certain agreed rates for the
stock, and different classes of bonds. The interests of the various
parties in this pool, which were represented by the reduced figures of
the par value of their securities, multiplied by the agreed factor for
reduction, were to be liquidated by the issue of new stock, dollar for
dollar, in such amounts as to equal the reduced values. The scheme
applied to all the stock and securities of the company except the debt
to the government, and the first mortgage bonds, which equaled it in
amount, and the Denver extension bonds. The effect of this agree-
ment was to reduce a total of stock and bonds amounting to $17,330,350
to the sum of $4,855,300.
Reorganized upon this basis, the Kansas Pacific company would
have had a bonded indebtedness of $18,848,000 representing the first
mortgage bonds and the government lien, and $4,855,300 of stock. In
1879 Gould bought out the St. Louis parties, which gave him control of
the road. Dillon was made president and a general change of officers
occurred. Immediately afterward the scheme for the reduction of the
Kansas Pacific securities was dropped and another substituted, whereby
it was proposed to retire the outstanding securities and defaulted
coupons by means of a general consolidated mortgage, under which the
outstanding bonds and coupons were to be commuted at the same rates
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 401
as in the agreement of April 24th, 1878. No provision was made for
tlie stock. Meanwhile, Gould had sold out the larger part of his Union
Pacific stock. The consolidation of the two roads took place a short
time after.
Gould managed the Denver Pacific stock in the following manner :
This stock was held, as already mentioned, by the trustees of the
funding mortgage used to extricate the Kansas Pacific from its
financial difficulties. After the substitution of the consolidated mort-
gage of May, 1 8 79, the funding bonds all held by Gould and his
partners were converted under the terms of that mortgage, and the
29,979 shares of Denver Pacific were assigned to the trustees of the
consolidated mortgage.
This exceedingly ingenious project did not reach fruition, however,
owing to a breach between Gould and his Boston associates, in regard to
terms. Gould, to revenge himself upon them, and to demonstrate to
their beclouded minds the magnificent sweep of his genius and power,
took the first train for Kansas, and in a few days purchased the Missouri
Pacific road from St. Louis to Kansas City, paying $3,000,000 therefor ;
also a controlling interest in the Kansas Central, the Central Branch of
the Union Pacific from Atchison about fifty miles north of the Kansas
Pacific, and westerly on a parallel with the Kansas Pacific for one hun-
dred miles. This interest also included the control of five small branch
roads connecting with the Central branch. He already controlled the
Kansas Pacific. His plan was to construct a Pacific railroad from St.
Louis to the Pacific Ocean, by extending the Kansas Pacific through the
Loveland Pass above Georgetown to Salt Lake, and thence to San
Francisco by a traffic arrangement with the Central Pacific, with the
ultimate design of wrecking the Union Pacific, which eft'ect he was con-
fident would be produced. Having with wonderful celerity and force
accomplished his principal aims, he gave the entire scheme to the
public in the most ostentatious manner possible. Say the commissioners,
" Its effect on the Boston directors, were it not for the magnitude of the
interests involved, would appear almost ludicrous. They appear to
402 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
have been, one and all, terror-stricken." At all events, they came
speedily, and, it would seem, abjectly humble to the terms proposed by
Gould for the act of consolidation. They were compelled to accept
Kansas Pacific stock as manipulated by him, as the equal, dollar for
dollar, of the Union Pacific stock. He was master absolute of the situ-
ation, and made his arrangements with full knowledge of his power to
do as he pleased with the rebellious directors. The agreement when
■drawn, was promptly signed.
"A singular feature of this extraordinary transaction," says the
report, "is that a small percentage of all the bonds and stocks of these
branch lines had been taken from Mr. Gould by all the parties to this
agreement at the same prices which he himself had paid. The result
was, that when he had terrified them into submission to the general
terms of the consolidation, and the minor subject arose of fixing the
terms on which he should dispose of branch lines and connections (pur-
chased by him at extravagant rates with the intention of effecting
his transcontinental scheme, but which, after the consolidation he no
longer desired to hold) he had so arranged their personal interests, that
when the adjustment of these terms became a matter of discussion, all of
these trustees and directors had been placed in such a position that a
concession of good terms to Mr. Gould himself would automatically
result in a large profit to the other directors agreeing to the terms
proposed."
The ultimate effect of this agreement was to make the Union
Pacific company assume all the stock of the Kansas Pacific and the
Denver Pacific, and "all of their bonded debt and obligations of every
nature." He conceived and executed the ingenious device whereby
"the intended consolidated company was provided with stock for the
purpose of paying to Mr. Gould and his associates the agreed prices for
the branch lines' securities. The agreement contained the following
clause : The Denver Pacific capital, now an asset of the Kansas Pacific,
to be used after conversion into Union Pacific railway stock, to pay for
cf/j!.6jp^^^
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 403
shares and bonds of St. Joseph and Western railroad company, and St.
Joseph bridge, as hereafter stated, and for other purposes.
"This stock had no value whatever, except as controlling the con-
nection between Denver and Cheyenne. It was held by Jay Gould and
Russell Sage as trustees of the Kansas Pacific consolidated mortgage,
for the protection of the bonds issued under that mortgage. It would
certainly have puzzled a convention of lawyers to have devised a method
by which this stock, so held on the 14th of January, 1880, could have
been applied within ten days thereafter to the purposes intended by the
agreement quoted, and yet this extraordinary feat was performed. A
suit was manufactured, in which the Kansas Pacific Railroad company
was made the plaintiff, and Jay Gould and Russell Sage the defendants,
and the entire machinery of complaint, answer, trial, decree and exe-
cution was carried to a finish by the 23d day of the same month."
Gould held in addition 10,000 shares of stock, bought for ten cents
on the dollar from the commissioners of Arapahoe County, which he
delivered to the Kansas Pacific company at the cost price. All the
Denver Pacific stock acquired as above, was put into the trust, and the
consolidation took place on the 24th of January, 1880. It increased
the stock of the Union Pacific from $36,668,000 to $50,668,000, and the
bonded indebtedness from $88,471,285.23 to $126,818,046.09, and the
miscellaneous indebtedness from $4,072,854 to $9,677,018.
The scheme set forth above, was regarded as scarcely less than
infamous by certain of the original stock and bondholders, and while
several attempts were made to bring the perpetrators to justice, they
resulted in failure. Certain extensions and branch lines being necessary
under this arrangement, new stock to the amount of $10,000,000 was
issued, the Julesburg line built, and the South Park pushed to com-
pletion and subsequently absorbed (November, 1880), when the whole
was transferred by Gould to the Union Pacific, thereby greatly
increasing its burdens. In 1883 this wily operator closed out his con-
nection with the Union Pacific by a characteristic device of unloading
at large profits to himself and his partner, Mr. -Sage, and subsequently
40i HISTORY OF COLORADO.
acquired the southwestern system of roads to which he now holds.
From this time forward the Union Pacific has been engaged in an
incessant struggle with debt and aggressive competition, and has many
times been near the verge of bankruptcy.
On the 2d of April, 1878, Judge Hallett appointed George W.
Clayton and D. M. Edgerton receivers of the Denver Pacific Railroad
and telegraph companies, at the suit of the commissioners of Arapahoe
County. The board, as stated elsewhere, became alarmed lest the
violent contentions and rivalries existing between the Kansas Pacific and
the Union Pacific companies, in which the Colorado Central became an
important agent of destruction to the business of the Denver road, should
destroy it altogether. Hence, the commissioners determined to place
the property in which the people held a large interest, under the pro-
tection of the federal court. Mr. Clayton was one of the wealthiest and
most reputable of our citizens. Mr. Edgerton was then president of the
Kansas Pacific.
On the loth of August, 1869, the. Denver Pacific company had
executed a mortgage to J. E. Thompson, Adolphus Meier and John
Evans, covering all its property, including the land grant. As already
defined, the Kansas Pacific secured the control, and in its management
virtually destroyed it. On the 6th of January following. Judge Hallett
discharged receiver Edgerton, but retained Mr. Clayton, to whom full
charge under orders of the court was given. At the annual meeting of
the stockholders of the company held May 5th, 1879, the following
directors were chosen : Jay Gould, John D. Perry, C. S. Greeley, Sidney
Dillon, D. H. Moffat, W. S. Cheesman, Freeman B. Crocker, John P.
Devereaux and D. M. Edgerton. The latter was elected President,
D. H. Moffat Vice-President and Treasurer, R. R. McCormick Sec-
retary. The reader need not be told the effect of this introduction of
Gould and Dillon, and others, after what has been related. It meant
the absorption by the Union Pacific of the road in question, to be used
as might suit them to use it. On the 27th of May, 1S79, Gould came
out to inspect the South Park road, then completed to Kenosha Hill.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 405
and thereafter became an important factor in that enterprise also. On
the i6th of July, Justice Miller rendered a decision in the Denver Pacific
suit, discharging receiver Clayton, and turning the property over to
Messrs. Evans and Dulman, trustees for the bondholders. In August,
Gould purchased a majority of the first mortgage bonds of the road, and
assumed control September 29th, 1879. O^i the 28th of October, Gould
purchased, through W. S. Cheesman, the stock held by Arapahoe
County, in the Denver Pacific and South Park roads. The board of
commissioners, after a full and definite understanding with Mr. Chees-
man, agreed to sell to Gould and the Denver & South Park Construction
company, the stock held by the county in both roads, at ten per cent, of
par value for the Denver Pacific, and fifty per cent, of par value for the
South Park, subject to ratification by a vote of the people at an election
to be called for the purpose, which was subsequently accomplished
December 2d, 1879. Gould accepting the terms, the road fell into his
hands, and afterward became a part of the Union Pacific, Omaha Short
line. The stock was transferred by Freeman B. Crocker, chairman of
the board, and the proceeds, $250,000, invested in four per cent. United
States bonds, for the benefit of the county.
406 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER XIX.
The COLORADO central railroad — LOVELAND SEIZES THE ROAD AND SUCCESSFULLY"
HOLDS IT — HOW IT WAS ACCOMPLISHED — DESTRUCTIVE STORMS AND FLOODS
D. H. MOFFAT APPOINTED RECEIVER — FORCIBLE ABDUCTION OF JUDGE STONE
CARRIED INTO THE' MOUNTAINS BY MASKED MEN ALARMING RUMORS TROOPS
CALLED OUT MOFFAT's NARROW ESCAPE — STONe's EXPERIENCE WITH HIS CAP-
TORS EXTENSION OF THE ROAD TO FORT COLLINS AND CHEYENNE.
In 1863, W. A. H. Loveland and E. B. Smith of Golden, resolved
to construct a wagon road in the direction of the gold mines of Gilpin
County, via the Canon of Vasquez Fork, or Clear Creek. After an
expenditure of about fifty thousand dollars, which well nigh exhausted
their resources, it was completed to the foot of Guy Gulch, about six
miles from Golden. From the time of his first location at Golden, Mr.
Loveland had kept constantly in mind the importance and the feasibility
of an iron road to the mines by this route, and he clung to the idea with
unfaltering tenacity. He went before the legislature of 1865, of which
he was a member, and secured a charter, the incorporators named in the
bill being Henry M. Teller, John T. Lynch, John A. Nye, W. A. H.
Loveland, Thomas Mason, A. Gilbert, Milo Lee and Enos K. Baxter,
of Colorado, with the names of several capitalists residing in eastern
cities. This charter has been quite fully defined in the first volume of
this history, and need not be repeated here. In the summer of 1865,
Edward L. Berthoud made a careful survey of the route, Mr. Loveland
bearing the cost. The road was first intended to be of standard gauge,
as very little was then known of any other gauge, but when the estimates
were formulated, it was found that the expense would be too great unless
it could be made a part of the Pacific Railway, then being actively con-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 407
sidered. In January, 1866, Berthoud suggested the feasibility of a
narrow gauge road, and it was taken under advisement, thougli nothing
further transpired until the Pacific surveys approached the Rocky
Mountains, when its practicability was again brought forward. On the
loth of April, 1870, Berthoud located and staked the present mountain
division of the Colorado Central. In September, 1871, the Union
Pacific interest in Colorado contemplated a connection with the trans-
continental line at Pine Bluffs, 134 miles east. It was discussed for a
year or so, and then abandoned for a better line to Julesburg. Grading
upon the line was commenced in September, 1872, and completed to
Longmont, April 17th, 1873, when it was stopped by the disastrous
financial panic of that year.
Reverting back to the completion of the first division of the Col-
orado Central, from Golden to Denver, in 1870, it may be stated that,
owing to the great hostility of the projectors to Denver, they refused to
enter the latter place by a direct line, hence they built to the mouth of
Clear Creek, whence their trains were switched in over the rails of the
Denver Pacific, an awkward, inconvenient and expensive arrangement.
After some years of operation in this manner, the company, toward the
last of October, 1S74, decided to change to a more direct route, the
survey for which left the original line near Mr. Yule's house, three and
a half miles nearly due northwest of the old Rio Grande depot, near
which its new station was afterward established. The correction of this
error saved the company about two miles of distance, and rendered it
wholly independent of the Denver Pacific.
We now take up an important chapter of history. For some time
in 1875 there had been reports of negotiations on the part of the Kansas
Pacific, for the purchase of a controlling interest in, and a consolidation
of the Colorado Central with that road. Such negotiations were brought
forward at a meeting of the directors held in Golden, December 8th,
1S75, at which President Teller offered a resolution to the effect that the
company accept the proposition of Robert E. Carr to purchase the stock
of the said company held by residents of Colorado, at twenty per cent.
408 HISTORY OF COLORx\DO.
of their par value, payable in the bonds of Boulder and Gilpin Counties
at par, and it was adopted. Mr. Teller then submitted another reso-
lution, ratifying an agreement made between the Kansas Pacific and
Union Pacific Railroads, April 23d, 1875, to consolidate the Colorado
Central with the Kansas Pacific, and this also was adopted. This was
the first intimation Mr. Loveland had received in distinct form of the
purpose to carry out the proposed consolidation, but it being a director's
meeting which he could not control, he simply acquiesced for the present
and bided his time.
The movement coming to the knowledge of the citizens of Boulder
County, they rose up in rebellion against the arrangement, refusing to
surrender the stock which that county held in exchange for the bonds it
had issued. They had made searching inquiry into the financial affairs
of the company, and found reason to believe that its stock had no value
whatever. They averred also, that the Colorado Central company had
neglected to fulfill the terms of its contract, made when the bonds were
voted. Matters ran along for some time without further difficulty of
sufficient importance to be recited here.
On the 1 8th of May, 1876, the stockholders held a meeting at
Golden for the election of directors, and such other business as might
come before them. At this meeting some rather extraordinary pro-
ceedings were had. While the representatives of the stock were entirely
harmonious, no clouds appearing upon the surface of their deliberations,
which were quietly conducted, the result of their secretly pre-arranged
programme proved very disastrous to the majority interest held by
E. W. Rollins for the Union Pacific. It was, in the first instance, an
absolute rejection by the three counties of Gilpin, Jefferson and Boulder
of the agreement of consolidation, which had been adopted by the
directors in December, 1875, and the substitution of an entirely different
scheme, involving an entire change of management and control. The
record of the proceedings showed that the meeting was held pursuant to
call of President Teller. He being absent, Mr. W. A. H. Loveland was
called to the chair. For the election of directors for the ensuing year.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 409
Messrs. John C. Hummel, E. L. Berthoud and Oren H. Henry were
chosen inspectors of the vote. The shares and proxies were turned over
to them and a recess tal<;en to afford them opportunity to examine and
report upon the same. Having performed their duties, and the stoclc-
holders having cast their ballots for eleven directors, the inspectors, after
canvassing the same, presented their report in writing.
Mr. E. H. Rollins, treasurer of the Union Pacific company, had sent
a proxy to E. W. Rollins, his son, who was treasurer of the Colorado
Central, to vote 7,200 shares of the stock of the company. This proxy
was declared by the inspectors to be illegal and void, therefore it was
thrown out, as also another proxy issued by Mr. J. W. Gannett. The
canvass of the vote made under these conditions gave the following
directors for the ensuing year: Joseph A. Thatcher, Thomas I. Rich-
man, Oren H. Henry, John C. Hummel, Edward L. Berthoud, Wm.
A. H. Loveland, Charles C. Welch, Gilbert N. Belcher, John H.
Wells, John Turck, and Oliver Ames, the latter being the only Union
Pacific representative chosen.
The report of the inspectors was received, ratified and confirmed
by vote. The stockholders then adjourned, to meet again at 2 o'clock.
At the adjourned meeting Mr. E. W. Rollins offered a resolution to
the effect that the action of the inspectors in throwing out the proxies
of the Union Pacific company, and in receiving votes for directors
whose names did not appear on the stock list as certified by the secre-
tary of the company, was wrong and illegal, and that the directors so
chosen do not lawfully hold their seats as directors of the Colorado
Central Company. This was put to vote and rejected.
Then Mr. John H. Wells of Boulder offered one that was immedi-
ately adopted : "That all and every vote, resolution, contract or agree-
ment heretofore made or entered into by the board of directors, exec-
utive committee or stockholders of the Colorado Central Railroad com-
pany with the Kansas Pacific Railroad company, looking to a consoli-
dation of the two companies, is and are hereby rescinded, revoked and
declared null and void." Mr. Rollins entered a formal protest in
410 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
writing against the casting out of the Union Pacific stock, which, with-
out further action, was read and recorded.
To fortify themselves for the work in hand, and to cut loose from
entangling alliances, Mr. Wells offered certain amendments to the by-
laws, transferring the principal offices of the company to Golden, and
making that place its permanent general headquarters and home office ;
directing also that all books, papers, the seal, etc., etc., should be kept
in said office, and providing that all meetings of the stockholders and
directors be held there. Mr. Berthoud was made the custodian of all
certificates of proxy or powers of attorney of the stockholders which
had been presented at that meeting, with orders to hold them subject to
the direction of the directors that day elected.
This, it will be observed, constituted a very fair day's work for the
newly fledged stockholders and directors, and also that their plans had
been conceived with exceeding shrewdness, very adroitly and daringly
executed. But this was not all they did. The programme found its com-
pletion for that session at least, in the election of the following officers :
President and General Manager. — W. A. H. Loveland of Golden.
Vice-President. — John H. Wells of Longmont.
Secretary. — Edward L. Berthoud of Golden.
Treasurer. — John C. Hummel of Longmont.
Superintendent. — Oren H. Henry of Boulder.
Auditor (chosen subsequently) — Foster Nichols of Central City.
A review of the foregoing shows that E. W. Rollins was, unde-
niably, the authorized agent or representative of the Union Pacific
stock, and of several individual shareholders who had delivered their
proxies to him. For the former he held 7,200 shares. His proxy was
sufficient and reasonably legal, though lacking some technical form-
alities, or would have been so considered under any other circumstances
than those which in this case governed the inspectors of the election.
It was signed by E. H. Rollins, Treasurer, and had been prepared by
authority of the executive committee of that company, but there was no
certified form attached. The Union Pacific people evidently believed
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 411
that the proxy was in legal form, but they neglected to adopt a resolu-
tion authorizing E. H. Rollins to convey to his son power to cast the
vote, and it was of this negligence that the new regime took advantage.
These shares constituted a majority of all the stock of the road, the
whole issue being 13,300 shares. Mr. Rollins also represented by
pro.xy 2,100 shares belonging to his father, and certain others belonging
to Oliver Ames, F. Gordon Dexter and H. M. Teller. Only the Union
Pacific shares were rejected ; the others were voted and counted. But
they cut no figure in the result. To qualify Messrs. Thatcher, Rich-
man, Wells and Hummel to act as directors, a few shares of stock were
transferred to them.
Immediately after the election and installation of the new manage-
ment, an injunction was obtained, restraining the representatives of the
Colorado Central from turning over any property to the Kansas Pacific,
and the latter from receiving any such property, and prohibiting either
company from taking any steps whatever looking to consolidation.
Next, Mr. Loveland, by virtue of his office of general manager, issued
orders requiring all officers, agents and employes to recognize and
report to the new administration. This circular awakened Mr. Teller's
ire, and he immediately gave instructions that neither officers nor agents
should pay any attention to the usurpers. Mr. Henry made formal
demand upon Col. Cyrus W. Fisher, superintendent under the old
regime, for possession of the road. Mr. Fisher refused. Hummel
made a like application to Mr. Moffat, treasurer, for a transfer of the
funds in his hands, which was likewise denied. As a matter of fact,
Mr. Moffat had no funds belonging to the company in his possession, as
its account had been overdrawn. These matters coming to the public
ear, caused some commotion, but no excitement ; this was to come later,
and with startling emphasis. It soon became an open secret that the
new management fully intended taking possession and operating the
road, even if it had to be secured by forcible measures. Without multi-
plying words, it took possession on Sunday, May 21st, 1S76. Loveland
had laid his plans to seize the books of the secretary and treasurer.
412 ■ HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the repair shops and round houses, at a certain hour on that day, and
had instructed his subordinates accordingly. Mr. J. W. Nesmith (now
president of the Colorado Iron Works, Denver) had charge of the
shops as master mechanic. He had been informed by Loveland that
when the road was to be taken, he (Nesmith) would be notified.
Berthoud had been directed to take the secretary and treasurer's books,
offices and other property at 4 o'clock on Sunday afternoon. James
Scott had orders to seize the shops and roundhouse ; C. S. Abbott,
master of transportation, was to look after the rolling stock. As related
to me by Mr. Loveland : " I remained at my private office in town until
fifteen mixiutes to 4 o'clock. Mr. E. W. Rollins was with me. I said
to him, 'Let us go over to the depot and see the trains come in.' On my
way I stopped at Mr. Nesmith's residence and said to him, ' I am now
on my way to take the road.' Rollins ran to the shops, Nesmith fol-
lowing. As the latter unlocked and opened the doors, Jim Scott, who
had been concealed near by, slipped in behind and took the property.
Berthoud executed his instructions to the letter at the same moment.
As the trains arrived, Henry and Abbott stepped to the engineers and
trainmen, apprised them of the situation, and gave them the option to
obey Loveland's orders or leave. Those who refused were discharged
and paid. In less than thirty minutes from the time the signal was
given, the Colorado Central was in my hands."
The most remarkable rainstorm since 1864, occurred on the 2 2d.
It began with snow in the mountains, falling to the depths of two to
three feet in Gilpin and Clear Creek Counties, and extending with great
severity far out upon the plains in torrents of rain. Cherry Creek,
Clear Creek and the Platte, all streams in its track, were filled with
rushing waters, which created ilnparalleled havoc among railways and
bridges. Telegraph lines went down, road beds were swept away and
all trains stopped. The Rio Grande and the Colorado Central suffered
great destruction. Superintendent Henry was cpmpelled to meet heavy
disasters to the line of which he had only the day previous taken charge.
The company had no money, and but little credit. The Kansas Pacific
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 413
managers during the time they had been in control, had stripped it of
bridge timbers, ties, poles, etc. Nevertheless, in an incredibly short
time the damage had been repaired, and all trains put in motion.
Shortly after, the Union Pacific began suit against the company on a
claim of $1,500,000, representing its floating debts mainly for material,
supplies and interest on the bonds. Its attorney obtained an injunction
from Judge Am.herst W. Stone of the Second Judicial District, first
against any increase of the capital stock, and second, against the sale or
other disposal of the property, and against making any traffic contracts
with, or the leasing to any other road, and filed a motion for the
appointment of a receiver. Still these proceedings failed to deter, or in
any way interrupt the Loveland management. The cause came on for
hearing at Boulder, July 15th, was argued and taken under advisement.
On the 1 2th of August, the application for a receiver was granted, and
D. H. Moffat, Jr., appointed. He was required to qualify in open court
on the 15th, with sureties in the sum of $500,000. This action was
intended to give Mr. Moffat possession of the property, yet he failed to
secure it. Loveland, though momentarily checked, had ample resources
in reserve. And now came the climax to this highly interesting record
with a force that shook the State, exceeding for its brief duration, any of
the surprises growing out of the contest between the Rio Grande and
the Santa Fe.
Pending the final execution of Judge Stone's decree appointing a re-
ceiver, Mr. Moffat prepared his bond and was to have appeared in court
with his sureties on a certain day, when all proceedings were brought
to a sensational conclusion under circumstances now to be related.
Squads of armed men, masked and otherwise disguised, operating in the
interest of the Colorado management, but whether by its orders or
acquiescence has never been made public, and is known only to the
principal actors in this surprising drama, secreted themselves at a point
on the Colorado Central road near the crossing of Ralston Creek, and
awaited the train from Denver which was expected to bear Receiver
Moffat, his sureties, Judge Stone, all the attorneys in the case, and a
414 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
number of other passengers. Mr. Moffat's party, however, went by
the Boulder Valley road, and thus escaped participation in the pro-
ceedings which followed. About noon that day there came a wild
report by telegraph that the Colorado Central train had been stopped,
Judge Stone seized and carried off into the mountains, to what fate
none could tell. Of course a thousand extravagant rumors caused
widespread excitement and alarm. Visions of horrible murder floated
through the minds of many, for it was a very common belief that the
Judge would be assassinated in cold blood by his abductors. The
ominous tidings spread to all points reached by wire. It was known
that the feeling against Stone and his recent decisions was extremely
bitter in Boulder and Jefferson Counties, and that threats of violence
had been uttered when he appointed Mr. Moffat receiver. The term
of court would expire at midnight of that day, and it was clearly the
intention of the kidnappers to detain the Judge, if they refrained from
killing him, until the lapse of the term, and thus prevent the execution
of his decrees. While citizens of Jefferson, Boulder and Gilpin rejoiced
over this extraordinary turn of events, in Denver it was denounced as
an unwarranted outrage. The sheriff of Boulder, instead of proceeding
to intercept and apprehend the outlaws as he should have done, tele-
graphed Governor Routt for authority to raise fifty men for the rescue.
The Executive answered that the law gave him ample authority to call
a posse to his aid in executing a writ, and commanded him to pursue
the party and liberate the captive jurist. One of the remarkable inci-
dents of the day, as viewed by the people of Denver, was the laconic
correspondence by wire between Loveland and the Governor. The
former sent a dispatch stating that C. S. Abbott, master of transpor-
tation, had advised him of the forcible seizure of Judge Stone, and
asked to be empowered to send thirty men to arrest the parties engaged
in this unlawful transaction. Routt responded, " Have your sheriff
procure a writ for the arrest of the kidnappers. He is authorized by
law to summon a posse large enough to execute a writ if it takes every
man in your county. Hope you will give him all the assistance in
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 415
your power." Loveland replied that he would aid the sheriff to the
utmost of his ability, and would put a force of men on the trail by
4 o'clock.
These delays, as will be seen, since no one left in pursuit from any
direction until late in the afternoon, gave the captors abundant time to
make their escape. D. J. Cook, sheriff of Arapahoe County, ordered
out one or two companies of troops ; numberless volunteers offered
their services for a field in which there was no great probability of
carnage. The motley crowd flocked to the depot, armed with all sorts
of weapons ; shotguns, pistols, muskets, sabres, carbines, anything that
could be gathered in the excitement and confusion which prevailed.
The Governor's Guard, admirably armed and disciplined, appeared
under command of Captain (afterward Brigadier General) A. H. Jones,
a brave man and a superb officer. Capt. E. J. Burke of the Mitchell
Guard was only able to gather a small squad of his command. The
uproar increased as the day wore on. While some of the more imag-
inative were confident that the court had been slain, drawn, quartered
or burnt at the stake, the more rational quickly penetrated the actual
purpose, which, when accomplished, would result in the return of the
captive to his family and friends.
In the meantime Mr. Moffat's special train returned to Denver.
As the witnesses of the capture reappeared in town, the following
accounts of the affair were related : At a point about six miles north of
Ralston Creek, the train was stopped by an obstruction on the track.
When it came to a halt, a body of masked men arose from their place
of concealment. Three of them entered the car, and approaching
Judge Stone, the leader said: "Come with me, I want you." The
Judge expostulated, which soon brought a second masquerader to the
spot who, more imperative than the first, thrust a revolver in his face
and sternly commanded him to leave his seat and follow. At this junc-
ture General Sam E. Browne, one of the attorneys present, rushed for-
ward, exclaiming, "Gentlemen, what are you doing? You surely don't
intend to disgrace vourselves in this manner. At this," said Browne,
416 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
" one of them stuck a pistol in my face with the sharp command, ' Sam
Browne, you sit down !' and I sat." They then forcibly seized the Judge
and lifted him off the train. In retreating, the abductors covered the
passengers with their pistols and as rapidly as possible disappeared in
the direction of the mountains. They gave assurances, however, that
there need be no apprehension for the Judge's safety, as no bodily harm
would be done. The maskers inquired for Mr. Moffat, but were told
that he had gone by another route, at which they seemed disappointed,
as they had planned to take him also.
Here is another, and perhaps more accurate version, given by Hon.
Hugh Butler: "One man entered the car and ordered the Judge to
come with him. The Judge replied that he had business in Boulder
and could not comply with the request. This was repeated several
times, when a second man stepped up, and putting the muzzle of his
revolver to the Judge's face, said, ' I guess you'll come with me !'
Still Mr. Stone refused to yield, when they seized and dragged him
from the car. I attempted to follow, but was stopped by a pistol, with
the savage remark that the first man who interfered would be shot."
In commenting upon the event public opinion differed widely.
Loveland was universally known as the originator and father of the Col-
orado Central system of railways ; as an energetic, enterprising and
public-spirited man. Though engaged in a patriotic endeavor to build
up the town of Golden, which he had been instrumental in founding,
and in the pursuit of this ambition was frequently brought into sharp
collision with the builders of Denver, the people of this city entertained
high regard for him personally, even while resisting and thwarting his
aggressive schemes. In promoting public enterprises he spared neither
capital nor effort, but in the unequal warfare he was finally stranded,
wrecked and impoverished. The capitalists of the Union Pacific, when
they took possession of the valuable franchises which he had labored
so long and assiduously to procure, and of the lines which he had
surveyed at his own expense, snubbed, ignored and set him aside, when
they should have employed and compensated him as their most
CJ^^fK^.,
^^r""^
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 417
effective agent. He did more to found and complete the road than
any other agency, but had less influence with the directing powers.
When the attempt to consolidate the road with the Kansas Pacific
was made, which meant the absorption of the former, with all the con-
sequences, financial and otherwise, involved in the compact, Loveland
and his supporters discovered that they were to be frozen out. There-
fore, they devised the scheme which gave them possession of the
property, with the result stated. Finding themselves likely to be
driven to the wall by Judge Stone's decision, they took heroic measures,
overrode the law, carried off the court, and only missed the receiver
by a scratch.
Governor Routt immediately resolved that the violent proceedings
taken must not be permitted to defeat the ends of justice. He there-
fore directed Judge A. W. Brazee to reopen the court at Boulder and
hold it open until the causes before it should be legally terminated. A
special train was placed at his disposal, the Executive summoned the
Governor's Guard, and thus prepared for any emergency the, court the
Governor and the military reached Boulder shortly before ten o'clock
that night, marching directly to the courthouse, where Judge Brazee
was quickly installed on the bench. The building was closely guarded
by the troops, though there was no evidence of any hostile demon-
stration, or of any intention to interfere with the regular course of law.
The sheriff opened court in the usual form, when Brazee read the order
of the Governor assigning him to that district, with instructions to con-
tinue the term which had been interrupted. This document having
been filed with the clerk, and the necessary orders issued, court ad-
journed to the next day at two o'clock. The Governor then addressed
the sheriff, saying, — "In answer to your request of this date for
authority to raise a posse, I have to inform you that General D. J.
Cook is here with forty men subject to your request for assistance, and
I now command yon to do your duty ; and if you need a thousand men
they will be placed at your service."
27 II
418 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Many citizens in paying their respects to the head of the govern-
ment, deprecated what had been done during the day. They reaHzed
the disgrace to their county and its law abiding people, and tendered
him their aid if required. While many were opposed to Judge Stone's
decisions, and especially pronounced in condemnation of Mr. Moffat's
appointment, under the impression that it was intended as an act of
hostility to their interests, they nevertheless denounced the resort to
force. The night passed without incident. The special train returned
to Denver about midnight, bearing Judge Brazee, the Governor and the
troops. Gen. Cook remaining on guard.
On the morning of the i6th Judge Stone was brought back to his
hotel in Denver, and gave the following account of his experiences :
On being taken from the train he was placed in a carriage, the leader
of the armed party being seated beside him. There were twenty-four
men, all mounted on fine horses, all masked and some otherwise disguised.
He was treated with all respect, courtesy and kindness, and every
assurance given that he would suffer neither harm nor indignity at their
hands. He was merely to be detained in custody for a few hours
pending the lapse of the court. They informed him also, that mounted
men had been stationed on both roads ; that they waited in conceal-
ment throughout the previous night, and had he escaped capture on
the train, the)- would have taken him from the bench or wherever
else he might be found. They were resolved to prevent the operation
of the Colorado Central Railroad by Eastern people, but further than
this they had no interest. On leaving the train they crossed the prairie
toward the mountains, finally taking a trail that led into the foothills,
which they followed about six miles to a ranch, where a bucket of milk
and some other supplies were obtained. Here they abandoned the
carriage, giving him a fine saddle horse for the remainder of the journey,
to a beautiful grass covered park, when all dismounted and lunched.
No disagreeable incident occurred ; his guardians were inclined to be
good humored and sociable. At no time were the masks removed. He
was treated with great civility, and every want supplied. After luncheon
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 419
the ride was prolonged to a lofty eminence, from which Denver and the
entire Platte Valley could be seen. Here the cavalcade rested until
dark, when they descended slowly toward the Golden Road to Black
Hawk, which was followed to the neighborhood of the town first named.
Here, all except the leader and his prisoner disappeared, saying they
would send a carriage for the Judge. When it arrived some time later,
it contained two men heavily masked, who rode with him to the door of
his hotel (the Alvord), bade him good-night, and drove away.
Next day the Judge took an escort provided by the Governor, con-
sisting of the Governor's Guard, Mitchell Guard, and a detachment of
scouts under deputy W. A. Smith, and returned to Boulder. But as
events proved, these ostentatious military precautions were both wholly
unnecessary and exasperating to the sensitive feelings of the people, who
declared that the court would have been safe without any guard at all.
Seated once more upon the woolsack amid perfect peace and quiet, the
case of Frederick L. Ames and John R. Duf¥ vs. the Colorado Central
Railroad, was called. Mr. Moffat's bond, signed by Jerome B. Chaffee,
Walter S. Cheesman, William M. Clayton, Richard E. Whitsitt, William
H. Lessig, Fred Z'. Salomon and Leonard H. Eicholtz, who were present
and jointly justified in sum of $750,000, was submitted and approved,
and the principal duly sworn into office. Mr. George D. Reynolds of
Boulder was appointed special master to enforce the orders of the court.
The first paroxysms of wrath against the court and the receiver
having passed, the humiliating consequences of the rash act became
painfully apparent to the better class of citizens. Yet they were
enraged at the presence of the military, as an imputation upon their
loyalty, as if they were a community of rebels against the constituted
authorities and the laws. But worse than all, the troops were from
Denver, the center of opposition to the cause with which all were in
sympathy. The Governor exerted himself to pacify and remove harsh
feelings, by explaining why the troops had been called, but with only
indifferent success. Boulder County did not readily forgive him, as was
shown in the first State election when he was a candidate for Governor.
420 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
But time heals all wounds, and in time the stirring events enacted there
were forgotten.
Mr. Moffat's demand for possession of the road was not complied
with. On the iSth further sensational reports obtained circulation,
renewing the excitement, and threatening further violence. It was
rumored that the Kansas Pacific had raised an armed force to take the
property out of Loveland's hands. Such a force was actually sent out
on the road to Golden, but finding the people there prepared to meet
and try conclusions with them, they abandoned the attempt and retreated.
On the 2 1 St Judge Stone issued a writ of assistance to Master
Reynolds, but it could not be enforced. Affairs proceeded without
incident of importance until the 24th of August (1876), when Mr. A. J.
Poppleton, attorney for the Union Pacific, published a lengthy review of
the case, stating that no road had been built under Loveland's charter
until certain capitalists of Boston had been induced to embark their
money in the enterprise. Loveland made it a condition that they
should pay himself and associates $100,000 for the right of way held by
their wagon road, in Clear Creek Canon ; that they paid it, and in due
time the railway was completed at a cost of $2,500,000. To this amount
the counties of Gilpin, Jefferson and Boulder had contributed $400,000,
in county bonds which, at the time of their issue, were worth about fifty
cents on the dollar. The counties had received stock in exchange as
per agreement. Loveland and his associates had subscribed for and
received about three hundred shares of stock. The entire value of the
bonds and subscriptions did not exceed $250,000. The balance of the
funds was furnished by the Boston men. He reviewed the proceedings
of the meeting, when E. W. Rollins, who represented the majority
interest, was denied the right to vote the shares assigned to him for
that purpose. The ostensible reason was that the Union Pacific had
entered into a contract whereby the Colorado Central was to be consol-
idated with the Kansas Pacific, which would defeat the original purpose
of the Colorado Central organization, and fail to give the county sub-
scribers adequate returns for the investments they had made. " And yet,"
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 421
says Poppleton, " at the date of the pretended election of May iSth,
the execution of the consoHdation agreement had been enjoined by
Judge Stone and the counties had been offered their own price for
their stock. The Boston parties, enraged at the confiscation of their
property, entered suit for a foreclosure of the mortgage and the ap-
pointment of a receiver. So long as the road was in the hands of capi-
talists, holders of the securities were content to wait for its development
for the payment of interest and principal, but when it was forcibly
seized they took measures to protect themselves from loss."
After the abduction of Judge Stone, Poppleton came out as the
representative of the trustees for the bondholders and holders of the
floating debt, and on the 21st of June began the suit. Prior to this,
however, he called on Mr. Loveland and informed that gentleman that
he had full power to adjust the entire controversy b)- the purchase of
the county stock, and proposed to do so at the prices that had been
agreed upon. Loveland asked for time to consult the counties, but
Poppleton apprehending treachery, refused, and at once instituted pro-
ceedings as mentioned above. Negotiations were continued after this,
but without effect.
The State having been admitted into the Union, a motion was
file'd to transfer the cause to the United States court, but Judge
Dillon's decision on this point left it in the First District court, Judge
Wm. E. Beck presiding. On the 17th of November argument was
had before Judge Dillon at Omaha on a motion to docket the case,
and for an order on the United States Marshal for the District of
Colorado to put the receiver appointed by Judge Stone in possession
of the road and property. Judge Dillon denied the motion to docket,
giving a lengthy opinion. On the 9th of December Mr. Poppleton
presented to the Circuit court at Denver the full record of the case,
when Judge Dundy, who presided, resolved to enter it upon the
docket, denying a motion to remand to Judge Beck's court, but
allowing the defendants an appeal. In February, 1S77. the cause
came up again on a motion to strike it from the docket and remand
422 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
to the proper State court, and it was allowed, whereupon the plaintiffs
appealed to the Supreme court of the United States.
On the 17th of February, 1877, the Union Pacific Railroad com-
pany entered suit for $2,000,000 for iron, engines, material, etc., fur-
nished by them, and for damage to the shares of their stock, on the
ground that Loveland was wrecking the road. They compelled him to
give a bond of $500,000, which, to their surprise he soon furnished, and
went on operating the road as before. A short time afterward he went
to Boston, and after a lengthy conference with the Union Pacific people,
succeeded in negotiating a peaceful issue out of the trials and tribu-
lations. It was then arranged as one of the solutions of the difficulties
in the way of business for the road, since the Union Pacific was en-
gaged in a fierce dispute with the Kansas Pacific over the matter of pro
rating, that the Colorado Central standard gauge should be extended
from Longmont to Cheyenne. All suits were to be withdrawn and the
matters between the old and new managements amicably adjusted ;
Loveland to continue in charge and to build the proposed extensions.
The mountain division was to be pushed on from Floyd Hill to George-
town, and the terminus at Black Hawk removed to Central City.
Toward the latter part of June, 1877, the company made its
arrangements for moving northward, having in view a connecting Kne
from Cheyenne to the Black Hills of Dakota, provided the county of
Laramie, Wyoming, would vote $150,000 in bonds. Mr. E. L.
Berthoud surveyed a line, and the bonds were voted, but the road was
not constructed. Meanwhile, preliminary arrangements for the Long-
mont extension progressed, the survey was made, and the right of way
secured. Work began July 20th, at Longmont. On Saturday, July
2 1st, the first rail was laid at Hazard Station on the Union Pacific road
five miles west of Cheyenne. The Floyd Hill branch was finished to
Georgetown and opened to traffic August 14th, 1877, and that from
Black Hawk to Central May 21st, 1878.
The Cheyenne or Hazard extension was completed to Longmont
on Sunday, November 4th, 1877, and the line formally opened on the
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 423
7th. By the construction of this line the Union Pacific gained an
entrance to the chief centers of trade in Northern Colorado, despite all
the efforts of the Kansas Pacific and Denver Pacific to keep it out.
It will be remembered that in the first negotiations for the construction
of the Denver Pacific, the Union Pacific directors and some of the
principal stockholders entered into a contract to iron and equip the
road. This contract was never carried out, but the road having been
completed by the aid of the Kansas Pacific, was a few years later ab-
sorbed by the latter, and made its connection with the main trunk at
Cheyenne. Immediately afterward arose the question of pro rating,
which has been very fully considered in preceding chapters. The
opening of the new line provoked a lively contest for the Colorado
business, between the Iowa pooled lines and the Southwestern combi-
nation via Kansas City, the Kansas Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka
and Santa Fe. The Union Pacific coalesced with the Omaha pool, to
divert all northern business for Colorado over its line. This resulted
in cut rates and a general war, but it was of short duration, when all
went into a tripartite contract whose chief purpose was to squeeze and
bleed the trafific of Colorado to the last extremity, a system of heartless
extortions that prevailed until the combination was broken in 1888 by
the completion of the Denver, Texas & Fort Worth road.
The new board of directors, chosen by the Colorado Central com-
pany in December, 1877, continued Loveland's management and re-
tained the Colorado power in the board. It was composed of Jay Gould
and Sidney Dillon of New York, F. L. Ames of Boston, with C. C.
Welch, John Turck, O. H. Henry, Thomas I. Richman, J. C. Hummel,
H. M. Teller, W. A. H. Loveland and E. L. Berthoud of Colorado.
From the day the road was seized by Loveland, notwithstanding wash-
outs and other disasters it became profitable, and was paying large
returns when finally surrendered to the Union Pacific. When Leadville
came forward as the greatest mining region of the State, Mr. Loveland
proposed the extension of the Georgetown branch across the mountains
to that point which would have made it the shorter line, hence would
424 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
have controlled the principal part of the trade, but Governor Evans and
Gen. Palmer put an effectual stop to the scheme.
Soon after the election of directors named above, Gould demanded
an advance in freight tariffs, and in spite of all protests from the local
managers it was made, causing universal dissatisfaction. As a matter of
fact, the rates were nearly doubled on all consignments from Denver,
with the manifest intention of forcing the mountain merchants to pur-
chase in Chicago and give the Union Pacific the full advantage of the
long haul from the Missouri River. Rates on machinery and castings
made in Denver, for example, were advanced from forty-eight to ninety-
six cents per hundred, and the tariff on ores from the mines to the
smelters in Denver from $5.50 to $12 per ton. Naturally enough, a
vociferous outcry against these extortions came from every side.
The Colorado Central was merged into, and made an integral part
of the Union Pacific s)'stem, by a fifty year lease executed in November,
1879. S. H. H. Clark, superintendent of the former lines, took charge
of the entire combination, which practically deposed Loveland and
his aids.
If^ON MINE. Views, FF^OM PflOTOOf^flPhS TRI^EN \\i 1878.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 425
CHAPTER XX.
Primitive records of lake county — two great epochs — organization under
THE TERRITORY GULCH MINING DISCOVERY OF THE PRINTER BOY — ORIGINAL
DISCOVERY OF CARBONATES — STEVENS AND WOOD THE IRON SILVER MINES
OTHER IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES THE DAWN OF LEADVILLE GREAT MINES AND
■ THEIR PRODUCTS OPENING FRYER HILL TABOR, RISCHE AND HOOK — THE ROB-
ERT E. LEE GOVERNOR ROUTT FINDS HIS FORTUNE — W, S. WARD AND THE
EVENING STAR.
The occupation of the broad open valley watered by the Upper
Arkansas, by white men, dates no further back than 1859-60, but for
centuries prior to the discovery of precious metals there, it was a favorite
resort, and possibly the secure hiding place of large bands of Indians,
whose camping grounds were observed and described by Lieut. Pike in
1806. It was there that James Parsley, unquestionably the first Amer-
ican to enter these solitudes, claimed to have discovered a nugget of
gold in 1802. Though somewhat apochryphal, it is the first statement
we have of the finding of precious metal in any of the wildernesses of
the Rocky Mountains, excepting the nebulous record left by Don Juan
de Ofiate, who, in 1595, reported the existence of gold in the San Luis
Valley. If the evidence is of any value, the counties of Conejos and
Lake are fairly entitled to such measure of distinction as may be afforded
by these traces of antiquity or precedence.
From the date of Pike's midwinter exploration of the sources of the
Arkansas River, down to the time of Col. Fauntleroy's great battle with
the savages in 1853, fully set forth in our first volume, the region was
only occasionally visited by hunters and trappers, for, as may well be
imagined, it was extremely perilous for any other than red men to make
even a brief lodgement there, or in any of the tributary valleys. The
426 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
discovery of great treasures in 1859-60, caused the initial movement in
the important chain of events that peopled, prospered and developed the
Territory, and, in due course, by further wonderful revelations of mineral
wealth occurring at the close of the Territorial period, means were pro-
vided for the stupendous advances made by the State. The golden
yields of California Gulch proved the chief incentive for the attraction
of multitudes in i860, for until then, excepting the small areas worked
in Gregory, Russell and Boulder districts, no remarkable deposits had
been found. The excitement caused by the discoveries in Tarryall, in
Georgia and neighboring placers, and on the Upper Arkansas, indicated
such a wide distribution of precious metal, as to justify the expectation
that there would be room enough and gold enough for all the marching
thousands, and that the prestige which had once crowned California and
Australia would be equaled, if not eclipsed, on the slopes and in the
valleys of the Rocky Mountains.
The annals of Lake County have been marked by two striking
epochs, — first the enormous inpouring of a miscellaneous population and
the incidental outpouring of gold from i860 to 1865, and second, the
disclosure of immense deposits of carbonate of lead ores in 1874. The
first was of brief duration ; the second is likely to be permanent. The
county was organized and its boundaries prescribed by the Territorial
legislature of 1861. The original board of commissioners consisted of
Capt. Breece, Alexander McPherson and William Snyder. The mines
were extremely productive for three years, by which time the cream of
the harvest had been taken by the first locators and their assigns,
although considerable amounts were obtained each successive season
until 1870, when it was found essential to enlarge the water supply, and
this necessitated the construction of a large canal, some twelve miles in
length, from the sources of the principal stream to the placers, a project
involving great labor and expense.
The Printer Boy lode, discovered in 1861, and operated by the
imperfect methods of that early period, gave, in the course of time, some
extraordinary returns. It was situated near Oro City. In 1868, large
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 427
bodies of decomposed quartz, soft and porous, were found, carrying
great masses of free gold in nuggets, bunches of fantastically formed
and matted wires, and beautiful crystallizations. Many large glass jars,
such as are seen upon the shelves of drugstores, were filled with these
remarkable specimens, and exhibited, first at the national banks in
Denver, and subsequently in Philadelphia and New York, where they
excited much admiration, and, for a time, revived the interest of spec-
ulators in the mines of Colorado. The owner and manager of this
property, Mr. J. Marshall Paul, a Philadelphian, realized handsome
returns from the rude desultory workings while the rich pay streak held '
out, and figured quite prominently in Territorial politics. Mr. Charles
L. Hill, an experienced miner, who acquired his education in Gilpin
County, and subsequently managed the affairs of some of the noted
mines about Leadville, was at one time superintendent of the Printer
Boy. Though much prospecting was done to develop other mines of
like character, none succeeded.
The Homestake, situated near the head waters of the Tennessee
fork of the Arkansas, opened in 1871, gave such promise of great
resources as to induce the erection of a smelter at Malta in 1877.
The current of affairs proceeded peacefully for some years with
only an occasional conflict between the settlers and certain bands of
stock thieves who preyed upon their flocks and herds, and who, when
pursued, took refuge in the fastnesses of the mountains. In one or two
of these collisions some bloody work was done, a number of persons on
both sides being killed, and others severely wounded. Then began to
appear the light of an amazing revelation which signaled the dawn of
Leadville, the preface to a series of disclosures that blessed the land
with plenty, awakened the liveliest attention of the world to the
opulence of rich mineral buried beneath the porphyritic crust of the
surrounding hills, and exalted by an almost magical uplifting the dormant
energies of the people, by providing unlimited abundance of material
wherewith to develop the mighty aggregations of natural resources,
lavishly distributed through the mountains and plains.
428 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
The pioneer discoverer of tlie Leadville mines, or at least the first
to bring them to the attention of mankind by effectual demonstration of
their nature and value, was W. H. Stevens, a man of remarkable intelli-
gence and possessing broad, practical views of the subjects of mining
and mineralogy, which had been made the chief studies of his life.
These were his constant themes; indeed, he thought of little else. His
enthusiasm over the apparently boundless resources of the region, was
expressed wherever listeners could be found. It has been popularly
assumed that the discovery of carbonate of lead ores in California Gulch
was merely accidental, but Mr. Stevens always insisted that it was the
result of well directed scientific investigation. "For," said he in 1S79, "^
worked intelligently, and was almost as sure of the result then as I am
now. I am not a chance, haphazard miner, but believe in the application
of science in prospecting, as fully as in the treatment of the mineral after
it has been found." He had been forty years a miner, pursuing his
primary lessons to ultimate matriculation in the copper deposits of Lake
Superior, prosecuting his studies of the rocks, veins, mineralogical and
metallurgical conditions ; probing the deeper secrets with his mind,
while devoting his brawn and muscle to the material workings. Thus
he advanced by degrees to an employer and contractor, and in a few
years accumulated a fortune. His first visit to Colorado occurred
during the gold excitement of 1864; its object being to examine and
report upon certain properties in Gilpin County, at the request of
Philadelphia capitalists who had been urged to make some investments
there. A year later he made a cursory examination of California
Gulch. According to his lifelong habit, to visit a mineral bearing
region was to search it thoroughly. Li 1872, when the Little Emma
and Cottonwood districts of Utah were attracting thousands to Salt
Lake, he was sent out by capitalists to discover what opportunities
might be presented for quick returns upon money invested in that
region. Returning to Colorado, he entered the South Park, located at
Alma, and began mining on Mount Bross.
In the summer of 1873 he made a second examination of California
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 429
Gulch, collecting many specimens of rock and analyzing them. Other
expeditions to the same region caused him to become more and more
interested in what he found there. Comparing the geological forma-
tions with those he had observed in the mineral divisions of Utah and
Montana, he discovered a close similarity between them, and felt that
something greater than had yet been disclosed would be brought to
light by patient seeking. Respecting the deposits of gold, he reasoned,
as did all the miners, that they must have been eroded from some
mighty fissure, or a series of them, then deeply buried under vegetable
mold, and that by the employment of a great force of water under
hydraulic application, the surface earth might be washed away and the
bedded rocks exposed, when the search for veins could be easily con-
ducted, and at the same time uncover new deposits of placer gold.
At this period only about twenty miners were operating claims in the
gulch, and they were engaged in constructing a ditch and flume to bring
in more water for sluicing. Stevens purchased their claims and ditch
right. These placer locations covered a part of the present site of
Leadville. He secured patents to them in the usual form, knowing the
insecurity and harassments attending mere possessory titles.
A condensed account of his further operations has been furnished
me by Mr. S. S. Robinson, manager of the Iron Silver Mining com-
pany, from which it appears that in 1874 some eastern capitalists, by
the advice of Mr. Stevens, organized the "Oro Ditch and Pluming
company," and began constructing a canal from the Arkansas River,
near the mouth of Bird's-Eye Gulch, to California and Georgia Gulches,
to facilitate the washing of gold from the sands of those placers and the
grounds adjacent, by the addition of later improved methods. The
original plan contemplated applying the hydraulic process to the ground
now covered by the southwestern half of the city of Leadville.
The ditch and flumes were completed in 1875, and the work of
sluicing begun. During the progress of this enterprise Mr. Stevens
had associated with himself as an assistant, Mr. Alvinus B. Wood of
Ann Arbor, Mich. Each possessed a general knowledge of geology,
430 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
mineralogy and metallurgy. As they proceeded they heard from the
gulch miners many complaints about the heavy porphyry, heavy spar
and sand that troubled them in their gold washing, and were shown
samples of those materials. Both were men who, when shown a spec-
imen of mineral that was new or curious, could not rest satisfied until
its character had been determined. Analysis of the heavy mineral
proved it to be a rich carbonate of lead, carrying silver, properly a silver
ore. This discovery prompted Stevens and Wood to trace it to its
primary base in the rocks above.
Careful investigation begun in the spring of 1874, led to the
location of the "Rock," "Stone," and "Lime" claims, in June of that
year, but owing to the uncertainty of the economic value of the mineral,
and the urgency of other work, no immediate development was
attempted.
In the winter of 1875-76 some of the men were put to work on
the Rock claim, and opened considerable bodies of ore. In that con-
nection Mr. Stevens relates the following incident :
All operations concerning the new discovery had been kept secret
from the men. Only the proprietors knew what the products contained,
or the purpose of the prospecting. The laborers had no knowledge of,
or interest in silver ores. Their experience had been limited to digging
and prospecting for the more valuable metal, hence when Stevens began
to open his deposit of "carbonates," some of the men, discussing the
matter among themselves, wondered "what the old man meant by
spending his money in that way, as there was no sign of gold in it." At
length an old man named Walls came to him and said : " It's a great
curiosity I have sur, to know what ye are doin' this diggin' for, Mr.
Stevens. I've worruked for yez many a day and attended to me
business, but for the loife of me I can't see what yez are afther."
Stevens. — "You can't, eh?'
Walls. — " No, sur. There's not a culler in all this stuff we're
takin' out."
Stevens. — " Have you examined it closely ?"
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 431
Walls. — " Yis, sur, and I'm sure there's not a culler in it at all ;.
not a culler, sur, — it's nothing but a lot of black dirty rocks."
Stevens. — "Well, Walls, it is not gold that I've been working for.
What you see there is carbonate of lead, and I think there is silver in
it, and perhaps lead enough to make it pay for mining."
This colloquy awakened Walls and his son-in-law Powell, who also
had been working for Stevens. At the expiration of the month for
which they had been engaged, they began prospecting for themselves,
and in time discovered the "Adelaide," one of the more noted of the
early finds made. The Gallagher Brothers who had been working the
Homestake, soon followed, and uncovered the somewhat famous "Camp
Bird " mine.
In the summer of 1875, Mr. August R. Meyer, who had been con-
ducting sampling works at Alma, in Park County, and purchasing ores
for the St. Louis market, went over to California Gulch, and in 1877
erected a small smelter at Malta as an experimental project for
reducing the ores of the Homestake, then quite a productive property,
upon which its owners had built some rather extravagant hopes. The
following winter, the manager on starting the works, found himself badly
in need of lead ores to facilitate the reduction of the somewhat re-
fractory products of the Homestake, and was persuaded by Stevens to
try the mineral then lying on the dump of the Rock mine, which he
did, with satisfactory results. He then purchased a few tons at ten
dollars each, and smelted it with other ores. This was the actual be-
ginning of the smelting industry, which in process of time became
enlarged to vast proportions in that section of the Arkansas Valley, and
the inception of legitimate mining there.
The result of operations on the Rock claim in the winter of
1875- 76 encouraged Stevens and Wood to adopt more energetic and
systematic plans for exploration, which brought about the discovery,
and led to the location, in July, 1876, of the " Dome," " Bull's-Eye,"
and "Iron" claims. During that year, also, some ore from the Rock
was hauled in wagons to Colorado Springs, shipped thence by rail to
432 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
St. Louis, and there smelted. The result of this operation, together
with the development of other resources, enabled Mr. Stevens to enlist
the co-operation of St. Louis capitalists in the work of erecting and oper-
ating larger facilities for reduction in 1877, Mr. Stevens guaranteeing a
supply of ore for treatment. All the claims or locations mentioned are
situated on "Rock Hill," in California Gulch, and on "Iron Hill."
In the meantime, — 1876, — discoveries of mineral had occurred on
Carbonate Hill, and locations were made by Messrs. Hallock, Cooper,
Meyer and others. Meyer's smelting works had been well established
and operated to some extent, and thereby the character and value of
the minerals had been definitely determined.
The winter of 1876-77 was particularly severe, marked by heavy
snowfalls and very cold weather, which practically closed all progress
until June following. But from that time forward things went on with
a whirl. The fame of the new mining camp spread abroad. Strangers,
attracted by the glowing reports, began moving in large bodies, to
share in the wild excitement, and with visions of sudden fortune raised
by the opening of the New Discovery, Little Pittsburg and others in
the spring of 1878. The Harrison Reduction Works of St. Louis,
supplementing those of Aug. R. Meyer from the same source, com-
menced business in 1877 with a single furnace, but it was found neces-
sary to add another in 1878 to meet the constantly increasing pro-
duction. The La Plata Smelting company began with one furnace in
June, 1878, and in the following year added three others.
It became essential also to establish the basis of a town and a post-
office to accommodate the rapidly arriving immigrants. On the nth of
July, 1877, Mr. George Henderson was commissioned first postmaster.
The office was established in a log cabin, and became the nucleus of the
soon to be famous "City of the Clouds."
Thus far we have been considering in the main, the history of the
discovery and development of the Iron mines, but others in the district
are justly entitled to equal, possibly to greater prestige, by priority of
discovery. For example, the Dyer was located in 1872, two years
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 433
before Stevens opened the Rock ; the Homestake still earlier; the Breece-
Iron and Alps somewhat later, though all developed slowly under
primitive conditions.
"In the winter of iSjS-jg," says Mr. Robinson, "began the series
of attacks upon the territory surveyed and patented by the Iron Silver
Mining company, which forced it to appeal to the courts, and to employ
in its defense a large force of armed men. Litigation then commenced
is still undecided in its main principles and issues." At one time the
company had more than sixty suits at law to determine various contests,
and down to i8S8 had "expended more than half a million dollars in
prosecuting and defending them. But in spite of all these contests, with
adverse incidents and Interruptions, it had at the date named, given to
the world about twelve million dollars worth of valuable mineral, and to
its owners about two and a half millions in net profits. For nine years
it has given steady employment to an average of over three hundred
men in its various departments ; has opened about twenty-three miles
of working levels, upraises and winzes ; three miles of working shafts
and inclines, and has stoped an area of about sixteen acres on its lode.
It is still a large producer, and will probably pay handsome dividends
for years to come. Scarcely one-fourth of its territory is yet exhausted,
or even exploited. It is a grand mine. Its discovery and opening was
the inception of Leadville and the awakening of the dormant powers
and energies of the State. Its development has had Its part toward
sustaining the prosperity of the district, and in extending the fame of
Colorado as a great mining region.
" Much discussion has arisen as to who is entitled to be called the
discoverer of carbonates, the real founder of Leadville. The disinter-
ested judgment of one who has been familiar with most of the facts of
its early history, whose home and work have been a part of It for five
of the nine years of its existence. Is, that to the enterprise, knowledge
of the general geology of the State, firm faith in its mineral resources,
keen perception of its value and importance, the tireless energy,
courage and perseverance of \Y. H. Stevens we are Indebted for the
2S 11
434 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
discoveries and developments that have advanced Leadville and the
State to their present exalted position in the mining world. In this
early work Mr. Stevens was ably seconded by his associate, Mr. Wood,
and probably the early determination of the kind and value of the ore
was, in great measure, due to their habit of critically examining and
analyzing all mineral? that came under their observation.''
It is but just to add, that the claim of Messrs. Stevens and Wood
to having first made the revelations of the character and value of the
Jieavy minerals which disturbed the gold washers, has been contested by
Maurice Hayes, an assayer of local repute, and another named Dun-
ham, who assert that their assays ante-dated those of the alleged dis-
coverers. The fact remains, notwithstanding, that Stevens and Wood
were the first to establish systematic mining and induce the investment
of capital in mining and reduction works, as a requisite beginning of the
new era.
In the fall of 1877 ^'f''- Wood sold his interest in the property to
Mr. L. Z. Leiter of Chicago, for the modest sum of $40,000, and
thereby sacrificed a great fortune to his lack of faith.
According to local authority, the first strike which called attention
to the vast mineral resources of the district, was that of the " Camp
Bird," made by the Gallagher Brothers (Patrick, Charles and John),
during the winter of 1876-77, and directly induced by the exposure of
carbonate of lead in the Rock mine by the parties whose record in that
direction has just been epitomized, and in the near vicinity of what are
now the great mines of the Iron Silver Mining company. Development
under crude conditions was necessarily slow. The richer ore body was
not found at the surface or grass roots, as in most cases where fissure
veins make public announcement of their presence, but by digging
down through the overlying deposits. Toward the autumn of 1877
these sturdy operators began realizing large returns from selling valu-
able ores to Mr. August R. Meyer, who shipped them to St. Louis for
treatment. In due time their mine was sold, it is said, for $225,000 to
the company just named and was the first important transfer made.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 435
From many conflicting statements, the fact is evolved that the first
settler in the present city of Leadville, the man who established the
nucleus of the " Cloud City," and by the founding of a mercantile house
gave birth, so to speak, to the original thoroughfare known as Chestnut
street, which, until the opening of Harrison avenue in 1879, was the
only artery of trade, was Mr. Charles Mater,* who located there about
the middle of June, 1S77. It is a fact, however, that before he was
ready for business, several others had taken possession of eligible sites
in the near vicinity and erected cabins thereon. Mr. Mater was born in
Germany. At the age of seventeen he emigrated to the United States,
and to Colorado in the spring of i860, locating in California Gulch.
He was one of the organizers of Lake County in 1861. In 1864 he
served with the Third Colorado Cavalry in the Indian wars of that
period, and took part in the battle of Sand Creek ; was postmaster at
Granite for eleven years ; served two years as a justice of the peace,
and one term as county commissioner. Since establishing at Leadville
he has been one of its principal merchants, and was one of the first
trustees of the original town organization. In July, 1877, Mr. H. A.
W. Tabor, who had been engaged in business in Oro City for many
years, moved to the new town site and there opened a store.
In the spring of 1878 Mr. George H. Fryer, in connection with
William Lovell, while prospecting in an unchristened elevation directly
north of Carbonate Hill, on the 4th of April opened a deposit of ore
which he named "The New Discovery." As if by unanimous consent,
the promontory immediately took the name, "Fryer Hill," and by sub-
sequent developments in contiguous claims became the most productive
section of the country. Fryer was one of the most generous, genial
and companionable of men. He had previously accumulated and
squandered with profligate recklessness two or three moderate fortunes.
I remember when he came to Denver, just at the beginning of his
famous strike, but before its value had been demonstrated by devel-
opment, to negotiate its sale to Mr. J. B. Chaffee. He was in close
See Portrait, page 396, vol. i.
436 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
financial straits, and compelled to raise a certain amount of money to
meet an impending crisis in his affairs. Ascertaining the facts, Mr.
Chaffee advanced him the sum required, taking a bond and lease on the
property, which eventuated in its purchase for $50,000.
Among the series of important discoveries made in the spring of
1873, and the one which exerted greatest influence toward inciting the
sudden and tumultuous rush of immigration from all quarters of the
Union, and caused the name of Horace A. W. Tabor to become more
widely celebrated than any other of his time, occurred about the ist of
May, 1878, the material incidents of which are well worth relating. In
1868 Mr. August Rische, a shoemaker, who had served three years in
the Union army, came to Colorado and opened a small shop at Fair-
play, Park County, for the manufacture and repair of foot-gear. In the
autumn of 1874 he removed to California Gulch, and in the spring of
1875 leased a mine known as the "Five-Twenty," but as it proved an
unprofitable venture, he engaged in prospecting, in this instance, also,
without satisfactory result.
On the 20th of April, 1878, he formed a partnership with George
T. Hook, another shoemaker, with a view to searching for "carbonates."
Both were poor. To prospect with any chance of success, one must
have at least a reasonable supply of substantial rations and proper
implements. These pre-requisites, lacking the means to pay for them,
were beyond their reach, but knowing Mr. Tabor and his generous
nature, they applied to him for assistance. Happily, their proposal to
divide, share and share alike such discoveries as they should make,
enlisted his aid in their cause. The rations, tools, etc., were furnished,
and they proceeded to the apex of Fryer Hill, at that time an unprom-
ising locality, for very little valuable mineral had yet been discovered
there, and began digging. In those days it was difficult to determine
where lay favorable signs and indications of the presence of mineral.
Previous experience in Colorado mining counted for nothing. In estab-
lished districts the class to which they belonged followed certain guides
found in the surface outcroppings of veins, or were led to them by float
>:?.
I
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 437
or blossom rock, scattered over the slopes ; but here it was simply
blind chance, for the deposits were thickly overlaid with porphyry and
soil. Digging for the vein was laborious work, but they persevered
until their supplies became exhausted, when they returned to Mr.
Tabor's store, reported progress, and, like Oliver Twist, asked for more,
which was immediately granted. Few worthy men in distress have
applied to him, even when he had but little to share with an)- one, and
been sent away empty-handed. In the present instance he knew that
Rische and Hook were honest, industrious and persevering, and, they
themselves were sanguine of striking the prolongation of the ore body
which had rewarded George Fryer's search in the claim adjoining,
though it seemed probable that they would have to go deeper for jt.
This generosity, though against the pessimistic advice of his friends
who had little faith in the outcome of their endeavors, made him a
millionaire, and brought him almost unexampled renown. It exalted
him to the headship of men and affairs in his own State, caused him
to be chosen Lieutenant Governor in 1878, and sent him to the Senate
of the United States, all within two or three years, and almost before
he had recovered from the dazzling bewilderment of the marvelously
rapid transition from obscurity and poverty, to princely wealth and
importance among his fellows.
About the ist of May, having sunk their shaft to the depth of
twenty-six feet, Rische & Hook opened the Little Pittsburgh mine, and
with it fortunes for all concerned in the enterprise. The vein soon gave
evidence of being remarkable for the extent and value of its ores.
It is stated that during the last half of July following the discovery,
the mine yielded at the rate of $8, 000 per week. The first wagon load
of mineral extracted and sold to the smelters, netted them over two
hundred dollars. With abundant means at command, the deposit was
thoroughly opened, and was soon producing from seventy-five to one
hundred tons weekly. This surprising revelation caused a prodigious
activity in prospecting and mining throughout the neighborhood, and
Tabor, Rische & Hook began to absorb contiguous claims.
438 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
In September following, Mr. Hook, after having realized largely
from the intermediate sales of ores, sold out his interest to his associates
for $98,000 and retired, to securely invest and enjoy his fortune. A
short time later, Mr. Rische disposed of his half interest in the property
to J. B. Chaffee and David H. Moffat for $262,000. Says Fossett, —
"On the i8th of November, 1878, the owners of the New Discovery,
Little Pittsburgh, Dives and Winnemuc claims united their holdings and
formed the Little Pittsburgh Consolidated company. The Little Pitts-
burgh had previously returned the handsome total of $375,000 and the
Winnemuc $153,000. The latter amount was extracted in forty-nine
days, clearing the owners $112,000." But extended developments
determined the fact that the larger part of the valuable ore lay
within the boundaries of the New Discovery, where the deposit was
from twenty-five to fifty feet thick in places. " The average con-
tents of the ore for five months of i878-'79 were 11 1.40 ounces' silver
per ton, and 22.47 P^r cent, of lead. The average selling price was
$62.12, freighters', smelters' and shippers' charges being from $70 to $75
per ton." The Consolidated company was organized in New York in
the spring of 1879, with a capital stock of $20,000,000.
" The production of these mines from the time of discovery in the
springof 1878 to April 1st, 1880, amounted to $2,697,534.91 for receipts
of ore sold, and $4,246,239.81 actual yield." By this time it was dis-
covered that several large blocks of mineral, that had been counted
upon for large yields and the consequent perpetuation of dividends,
were of too low grade to pay much above the cost of extraction and
treatment. Under the pressure of a strong demand by the principal
shareholders in New York for dividends of $100,000 per month, the
mine was literally drained of its valuable contents. Tabor sold out his
interest to Chaffee and Moffat for a round million, and with other asso-
ciates (Borden, Tabor & Co. ) bought up all the properties obtainable
in the vicinity and adjoining the Crysolite, then the chief producer of
the district. Marshall Field of Chicago became interested with him,
and from his various ventures in and about Leadville accumulated
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 439
enormous profits, while Tabor made millions so easily and so rapidly as
to dazzle all beholders of his wonderful career.
Soon after the setting of the tide toward Fryer Hill, every foot of
ground in that vicinity had been staked off in claims. Nor did the wild
rush stop there, but extended to all neighboring regions. The discovery
of the Crysolite, Little Chief, Carboniferous, Amie, Dunkin, Hibernia,
Matchless and a host of others followed in quick succession. On the
Crysolite a greater than the Little Pittsburgh Consolidated company was
organized in October, 1879, by George D. Roberts, one of the prom-
inent operators of the Pacific slope. The territory embraced a number
of adjoining claims, including the Vulture, Carboniferous, Colorado
Chief and others, and was put under the most extensive operation, by
W. S. Keyes, a noted expert and manager from the celebrated Comstock
lode of Nevada, who immediately introduced Comstock methods of
mining and timbering, which served as examples for other of the large
operators, and to which many were indebted for the systems which pro-
moted their success. For its yields we again have recourse to Fossett,
who states, " that in less than five and a half months, while the company
was putting the Crysolite in shape for future production, five dividends,
amounting to $1,000,000, were paid and another of $100,000 in April.
The capital stock was $10,000,000, divided into 200,000 shares of fifty
dollars each. At this time the shares sold rapidly at $20 each." The
total yields of the Crysolite for eleven months preceding April ist, 1880,
is given by Fossett at $3,062,037.68.
The Little Chief, another and by no means the least celebrated
mine of the inflation period, yielded phenomenally during the existence
of its bonanzas. It was located and sunk to a paying condition by Peter
and Richard Finerty, Patrick Dillon and John Taylor, all common
laborers, and until success crowned their efi^orts, poverty stricken. After
they had mined and sold ore to the value of $ico,coo, J. V. Farwell of
Chicago, bought their claim for $300,000, thereby giving each a greater
sum of ready capital than either in his most extravagant visions had
ever dreamed of. From the date at which mineral was struck, in 1S7S
440 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
to April 1st, iS8o, the Little Chief produced nearly two and a half
millions. At the beginning of iSSo, the property was purchased by
George D. Roberts, and the Little Chief Mining company organized,
with a capital stock of $10,000,000.
It has been as much a part of the history of Leadville as of all other
great mining regions, that as a rule, the original locators have derived
only a small share of the values contained in their discoveries, for almost
as soon as made, for the most part when only shallow prospect shafts
had been sunk, the locations were sold to wealthy individuals or corpo-
rations, who enjoyed extravagant dividends therefrom by virtue of
abundant funds wherewith to develop them. It is impracticable at this
time to recount in detail the chronicles of discovery over so wide a
territory as was here presented, and in which thousands of locations were
recorded. Even a brief synopsis would extend these annals far beyond
the purpose of the author. It is deemed unnecessary to give more than
a general review of the principal discoveries and yields that induced the
lodgment of a dense population, the investment of vast sums of money,
and the building of a remarkable city, the largest and most influential
thus far established in the Rocky Mountains. The minutest particulars
of the wonderful story have been elaborated in several historical sketches
of the period, and in countless newspapers and magazines, hence it would
be superfluous to recapitulate them here, when most of the mines which
produced the effects so elaborately described, have passed out of the list
of celebrities, and whose prestige will never be restored.
While it is difificult to select from the number of great mines any
one, and say it was pre-eminently potential in determining or forecasting
the destiny of the region, there were a few which led all the rest, and
have not been surpassed by later revelations. It is undoubtedly true
that the most extraordinary discovery ever made in Lake County, and
from which a larger amount of treasure was taken in the brief period of
its supremacy as a phenomenon, was the Robert E. Lee, located and
christened by an obscure prospector named Lea on the 25th of June,
1 8 78, and sold to his successors in 1879, before mineral was found.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 441
During February, 1879, rich pay was encountered, but operations were
almost immediately interrupted by water, and later by litigation. Prior
to this, interests in the claim had been offered for mere nominal sums,
since the self-constituted experts had proclaimed it barren ground, out-
side of the mineral belt, and practically worthless. Before vein matter
of any considerable value had been exposed, the property passed into
the hands of Irving Howbert, Benjamin F. Crowell and J. F. Humphrey
of Colorado Springs. Subsequently J. F. Sigafus, W. H. Roudebush,
J. Y. Marshall and Homer Pennock of Leadville, became members of
the company. No sooner had paying mineral been disclosed, than suits,
were begun by contesting claimants. Their titles were quieted by pur-
chase, and about the first of August work was resumed in earnest. At
the depth of one hundred and fifty feet a vein of exceedingly rich
chloride of silver ore was struck, that carried 1,800 to 2,000 ounces silver
per ton, the first of like dimensions and value that had been discovered
in any of the carbonate hills, and necessarily stimulated and increased
the prevailing furore over the marvelous wealth of the district. There
was also a mass of sand carbonates carrying from $200 to $400 per ton
in silver, thus making it an exceptional discovery. The yield of this
deposit for the first three months of systematic mining was $495,000.
" In October,* $125,000 was taken out in ten days, $100,000 of which
came from various lots of ore which were sold on the following remarkable
assays: 520 ounces silver per ton; 708, "]()■], 882, 1,098. 1,412, 1,516,
2,825, -'878, 3,014, 5,405 and 10,306."
During the month of January the yield of the mines aggregated
$301,494.79. "On the 13th of January an effort was made to see how
much could be taken out of the mine within twenty-four hours. The
result was ninety-five tons, valued at $118,500, showing an average value
of over $1,200 per ton. Two tons of these chlorides and carbonates
carried 1 1,839 ounces of silver per ton ; four tons averaged 4,993 ounces,
and eight tons 1,234 ounces. The general daily product was from seven
to ten thousand dollars. The Lee has given the largest yield for a
* Fossett's Colorado.
442 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
single month and a single day. of any mine in the country, outside of
the Comstock of Nevada."
The company was reorganized and incorporated in 1880. In Feb-
ruary, 1 88 1, it was controlled by J. Y. Marshall, Homer Pennock, L. D.
Roudebush and H. A. W. Tabor. It is related that in one of the levels,
streaks of chloride ore were found that yielded 10,000 ounces silver per
ton, and there were instances where it ran from 15,000 to 20,000 ounces.
Other bodies much more extensive, comprising the bulk of the mass,
produced from 150 to 700 ounces per ton. All the better ores were long
ago exhausted, and since then only small amounts have been extracted.
To the Morning Star, located in June, 1877, by two prospectors
named Baldock and Bradley, something of romantic history attaches.
When their shaft had reached a depth of ten to twelve feet, in wholly
barren ground. Governor John L. Routt, possessed of a desire to
tempt the fickle goddess, offered them $10,000, much more than his
entire fortune, for the claim, and it was accepted. He had known the
pinchings of poverty in the political station he then occupied, in fact, all
through his life, but cherished unbounded faith in his guiding star, and
felt that by throwing his soul and strength into it as supplements to his
hard earned dollars, the reward would come. And it did come, but not
until his patience, muscle and credit had been strained to the uttermost.
Disregarding, in his new born enthusiasm, the exalted position he
held as the executive of a great commonwealth, and the fact that men
occupying such positions were not expected to lay aside the ermine of
government for the humbler raiment of slouch hat and copper riveted
overalls, he set to work with the few men he could afford to employ,
sharing their labor in picking, shoveling and hoisting ; subsisting upon
the coarsest fare by day, and sleeping in coarse blankets upon the floor
of a rude cabin by night, toiling from sunrise to sunset, denying himself
all the comforts of life to pursue unfalteringly the object of his ambition.
These efforts were interrupted by occasional visits to the State capital,
until his term of office expired, when, surrendering the scepter of
authority to his successor, Frederick W. Pitkin, he returned to his claim
(. 4^"
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 443
and wrought persistently as before, but with only slight encouragement
until April, 1879, when his indomitable pluck and steadfast perseverance
resulted in the discovery of an immense body of valuable ore.
In the progress of his preliminary trials, to secure means for the
more active prosecution of work, he had sold to Joseph W. Watson and
George C. Corning, the latter Treasurer of State, each a one-fifth
interest in his claim. During 1878, some few isolated bunches, or small
pockets of ore were found, sales of which brought him $7,447.70. But
from the time the mine was put in a condition for steady production,
during the summer and autumn of 1879, the receipts were large, aggre-
gating for that part of the year, $290,.^9i.26. During January, 1880,*
the receipts were $70,600, in February $70,000, and in March, about
$75,000. A number of adjoining claims were purchased, and in April,
1880, the Morning Star Consolidated Mining company was organized,
with a capital stock of $6,000,000. In addition to the great profits
reaped from previous sales of ore, the Governor and his associates
received something over a million dollars from the sale of the property.
The Evening Star, situated between the Catalpa and that just
described, was located in 1879, subsequently sold to an eastern company,
and then systematically developed by W. S. Ward, its manager. The
capital stock of the company was one of the most moderate of the time,
being only $500,000. Mr. Ward, one of the principal stockholders, dis-
played rare skill, energy and prescience in the development of the ore
bodies, employing methods that have nowhere been excelled for wisdom,
perfection, and in profitable returns through directness and economy of
underground explorations. In most cases the properties about him
were operated with an eye single to the payment of dividends, —
regardless of other and more important considerations, — from the first
ores developed, while Ward made no effort whatever to pay dividends,
paying none, until the full contents of the mine had been carefully
blocked out, securely and safely timbered, and their approximate value
ascertained. Then he was in a position to set aside each month a certain
* Fossett's Colorado.
444 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
amount of profit for the shareholders. The first dividend was declared
and paid September 12th, 1S80, and continued each month to the amount
of $25,000, until the reserves were worked out. The ore was remark-
ably uniform in value, averaging a little more than $50 per ton, but even
at that figure, owing to economical management, very profitable. In
1 88 1 this property was consolidated with the Morning Star combination,
and thereafter all were worked in conjunction.
The Matchless was located by impoverished prospectors, who, after
laboring some time without results, sold out to Foley, Wilgus and
Moore, speculators in mines, who sank the shaft to mineral, and in Sep-
tember, 1879, sold it to H. A. W. Tabor, the chief of operators, for
$117,000. In this venture he had no partners. The purchase had been
made solely upon his faith in the value of the property, and being asso-
ciated with others in every other enterprise in which he had engaged, he
felt that it would be a joy to own something in which there were no
sharers, and that would furnish him " pin money," so to speak, — a suit of
clothes now and then, a new hat, a bottle of champagne, and such other
trifles as are indispensable to a man of means. When properly devel-
oped, his net profits from this source were about $2,000 per day, and
there was a time when they amounted to $80,000 and even to $100,000
per month, for some of the ore was a chloride of exceeding richness. A
part of these earnings were put into his splendid and incomparable
opera house at Denver.
The Catalpa, Glass-Pendery, Amie, Hibernia, Climax, Small
Hopes, Silver Cord, and a number of others were celebrated producers in
the earlier years, and while some of these are still yielding reasonable
profits from limited operations, their glory passed with the epoch which
we have been considering. Nevertheless, the revelation of large de-
posits in other claims brought into line in the later period, together
with the prodigious outputs from the Iron Silver, Maid of Erin, Hen-
riette and other standard sources, have maintained the prestige of the
district to the present time.
With these facts before us, though hastily drawn, and conveying but
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 445
an outline of the yields from the chiefs of a long list of wonderfully
productive mines, in a period when colossal fortunes were acquired with
incredible swiftness, equaled only in the bonanza days of the Comstock
of Nevada, or in the first years of discovery in the gravel beds of Cali-
fornia, is it any wonder that, as the stupendous panorama unrolled, the
eyes of the world should be turned toward the mountains of Colorado
as toward a spring of inexhaustible riches, which, revealed just at the
time when the resumption of specie payments had been declared by the
government, and at the subsidence of a paralyzing panic, dissipated all
doubts of the speedy extinguishment of our national debt ; that tens of
thousands should turn their faces iri this direction ; that capitalists and
speculators should gather there, and that with the higher and interme-
diate grades should come a miscellaneous horde of gamblers, tramps
and outlaws ; that honesty, intemperance and crime should be com-
mingled, crowding and jostling each other in inseparable confusion
upon the streets ; that blood should be shed, and characters ruined ;
that while the few were mounting the golden ladder leading to wealth,
the masses were groveling in the slums of wretchedness and debauchery,
the whole creating scenes witnessed nowhere but in feverish, excited and
devilish struggles of a multitude collected from many lands and climes,
each impelled by the hope of reaching a higher and better station ?
The millions of money poured into the stagnant arteries of com-
merce from the porphyry hills of Leadville were the impelling cause of
the great procession of spectacular effects which inspired countless
writers to spread its fame, but only one of the interesting incidents of
the time. While the more fortunate were reaping magnificent harvests,
and rejoicing over their gains, comedies, tragedies, misery, death and
despair crowded the great center of action. We have now to show how
the process of evolution from the frenzied whirl of chaos to the orderly
and peaceful status of a well governed community, sent the criminal
drift by voluntary or involuntary emigration to other fields, and enabled
the better element to establish the lines of legitimate industry and com-
mercial stability, and fortify them for the future.
446 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER XXI.
LeADVILLE continued INCREASED IMMIGRATION — ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS — BUILDING OF SMELTERS THE GRANT SMELTING COMPANY
— RATES PAID FOR ORES — BEGINNING OF THE BOOM — CONDITION OF SOCIETY IN
THE PLUNGING PERIOD COLLAPSE OF THE LITTLE PITTSBURGH EFFECT UPON THE
COUNTRY THE GREAT MINERS* STRIKE IN 1S79 DECLARATION OF MARTIAL LAW
BY GOVERNOR PITKIN.
At the close of 1877 the population of Leadville was about three
hundred, mainly composed of prospectors and miners who had drifted
in from the outlying districts of the State. The nearest newspaper was
the " Sentinel," published by Richard S. Allen at the town of Fairplay
in Park County, which gave very full accounts of the various discoveries,
and events transpiring at the new camp across the Mosquito Range.
These being republished in the more widely circulated journals of
Denver, found their way to the press of the eastern States, where the
effect anticipated was produced, so that at the beginning of 1878 the
tide of immigration set in strong and continuous. On the 14th of Jan-
uary of that year preparations for the organization of a government
began. Says the Leadville "Chronicle," " Eighteen citizens, in response
to a call, met in a little wagon shop* on the present corner of Pine and
Chestnut streets, to take preliminary steps for a town organization.
There was high debate over the name. Mr. Mater suggested 'Carbon-
ateville.' A. R. Meyer proposed 'Harrison' as a fitting compliment to
the builder of the first smelter. A few others favored 'Agassiz.' Mr. J.
C. Cramer proposed ' Leadville' as the name most distinctly suggestive
of the new city's source of wealth, and it was unanimously adopted."
* Other authorities assert that the meeting was held in Chas. Mater's store.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 447
By proclamation of the Governor, the first election under the town
organization was held January 26th, 187S, when H. A. W. Tabor was
chosen Mayor, and C. E. Anderson, Clerk, with Charles Mater, William
Nye and J. C. Cramer as Trustees. The government was formally
instituted in February. At the regular election held in April following,
Tabor was re-elected, with J. C. Cramer as Clerk, and William Nye,
J. Carroll, R. J. Frazier and R. T. Taylor, Trustees. In April, 1879,
the town was elevated to a city of the first class. At this election the
business men, not satisfied with the political nominees for the Mayor-
alty, brought forward as their candidate Mr. W. H. James, and though
named but two days in advance of the vote, he was chosen by a large
plurality. At this time, also, Mr. John W. Zollars was elected City
Treasurer, and M. J. Murphy, E. C. Ivavanagh, John McComb, Samuel
McMillen, J. P. Kelly and John D. Monroe, Aldermen.
One of the first measures in the line of public improvements was
the introduction of a water supply for the extinguishment of fires, and
for domestic uses. The construction of a large reservoir on Carbonate
Hill; a mile or so to the southeast of the city, was begun Sept. 15th,
1 8 78, and the work of laying pipes, etc., completed in the spring of
1879, the water being turned on March ist. An efficient fire depart-
ment was organized early in 1878. Fortunately, notwithstanding the
combustible nature of the majority of the buildings in the original town,
no serious conflagration has occurred. At the close of 1878 a census of
the population was taken, showing a total of 5,040.
The great flood of prosperity which gave the place its renown in
i878-'79-'8o was due, first to the opening of scores of great mineral
deposits, and second to the rapid multiplication of ore markets. As
stated elsewhere, the original smelter was established at Malta by A. R.
Meyer in 1877, but it was not remarkably successful. It was succeeded
by the Harrison Reduction works in 1877. The La Plata smelter began
with one furnace in June, 1878, and in 1S79 l^^d four in active oper-
ation. Berdell & Witherell began in the fall of 1878. The American
smelter opened July 5th, 1879; the Billings & Filers, the California,
448 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
and J. B. Dickson's, the Ohio & Missouri (in Big Evans Gulch) and the
Elgin in the same year. Cummings & Finn fired up their two furnaces
July 25th, 1878, and the Grant Smelting company theirs on September
23d of that year.
The greatest firm of ore buyers and dealers in the products of the
mines about Leadville from i87S-'79 to the date of the erection of their
incomparable plant in Denver, was that of Eddy, Grant and James, of
whose organization and operations it is deemed proper to give a some-
what extended account.
Edward Eddy and William H. James, the first a native of Corn-
wall, England, and the latter of Wales, prior to their entree upon the
busy scenes of the Carbonate camp, had been residents of Georgetown,
Clear Creek County, where they were engaged in mining. Mr. Eddy,
before leaving his native land, had acquired a liberal education in the^
School of Mines at South Kensington, and elsewhere an extensive
knowledge of mining and the treatment of ores in all their branches.
Coming to Colorado, he settled at Georgetown October 12th, 1871,
obtaining employment on the East Terrible mines, then owned by Fred
A. Clark and Henry Crow, and superintended by W. H. James. From
an employe, he soon became an employer, having taken up the pursuit
on his own account. He built and conducted a concentrating mill in
the town, and subsequently erected works of a similar character for the
Silver Plume Sampling & Concentrating company. By his superior
attainments Mr. Eddy became one of the most noted operators in the
county, for men of his stamp were none too numerous in those days,
and the improvements he suggested and applied to the work of under-
ground mining, and to the treatment of the products, exercised great
influence in teaching the operatives how to work and timber their shafts
and levels, and how the minerals should be manipulated, lessons which
but few had learned, hence there was much needless waste of labor and
valuable material.
Mr. James came to the United States when but eight years of age,
was educated in Brooklyn, N. Y., and finally apprenticed to the trade
;S<^ry-5;^^-«;i::^^^>-
^^^^^^^^^^
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 449
of a watchmaker, which he followed until iS6o, when he joined the
procession of gold hunters then marching toward the Pike's Peak
region. Gilpin County being the objective point of all immigrants, he
found his way to the town of Nevada, situated at the very head of the
series of gulches tributary to the original Gregory, and at the very
apex of quartz or lode mining, and in due course became employed in
the milling of . gold ores, but did not meet the success anticipated.
Removing his mill to Empire, in Clear Creek County, he was still less
fortunate there, and at length returned to Gilpin, locating in Black
Hawk. Soon after the Terrible mines, near Georgetown, came into
prominence as great producers of rich silver ores, he was made superin-
tendent of those properties, which he directed until their transfer to an
English company, when he became manager of the Burleigh and Balti-
more tunnels at Georgetown, where the first automatic machine drills
ever brought to Colorado were introduced and operated. In 1873 he
superintended the working of the gold placer mines at Fairplay, in
Park County, in which Fred A. Clark, the owner and manager, lost his
life some time later.
In 1875 he passed over to the valley of the Arkansas and took
charge of the Printer Boy mine. In 1876 he was elected a member of
the Constitutional Convention from Lake County. His services In the
body which framed the fundamental laws of the State are fully set forth
in the chapter relating to that subject. His labors concluded there, he
returned to California Gulch and assumed charge of the Oro Ditch and
Pluming company, and there obtained his first knowledge of the car-
bonate of lead deposits, out of which he subsequently secured ample
compensation for his earlier misfortunes.
In February, 1S78, he and Mr. Eddy united their small capital in
a partnership for the purchase of ores and bullion. In the meantime,
the latter had made a careful inspection of the carbonate field where he
discovered a fine opportunity for the acquisition of a fortune. The
requisite machinery for sampling works was purchased and set up, and
soon their business assumed large proportions. On the ist of January,
29 II.
450 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
1880, James B. Grant was taken into the firm, which then became
known as J. B. Grant & Co., but was afterward changed to the Grant
Smelting compan)-.
Mr. Grant, a native of Alabama, was educated first at an agri-
cultural college in Iowa, taking a supplementary course at Cornell Uni-
versity in New York, whence he was sent to Freiburg, Germany, where
he devoted his time to the study of mineralogy and kindred branches,
and where he acquired the scientific knowledge which eminently qualified
him for the life work toward which his taste was directed immediately
after his arrival in Colorado in 1876. His first experiences were in Gilpin
County, where he purchased and opened a gold mine called the "Clarissa,"
purchased from W. H. Bush, then proprietor of the Teller House. In
1878 he went to Leadville, and at the time mentioned above, having
abundant capital at his command, organized the firm of Grant, Eddy
& James, now a part of one of the most extensive and successful
smelting corporations in the West. In 18S2 he was elected Governor
of the State, the first candidate of the Democratic party chosen from
1 86 1 down to the date named, and gave a satisfactory administration of
that high office, chiefly because he accepted the nomination with great
reluctance as a sacrifice of his rapidly expanding business, and because
when elected, he sturdily refused to be governed or guided by mere
political considerations, declaring his only desire to be to administer the
government in the best interests of all the people, regardless of party,
for a single term of two years, and then retire finally from the political
field.
Such, briefly described, was the firm of studious,, thoughtful and
experienced business men, combining the practical skill and energized
force that have made the Grant Smelting company one of the greatest
industrial institutions that has yet been founded at any point between
the Missouri River and San Francisco.
Their smelting works opened September 23d, 1878, with a single
furnace. Two years later they had seven in operation, with a capacity
for treating one hundred and seventy-five tons of ore daily, resulting in
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the production of about three carloads of base buUion each twenty-four
hours.
From a statement found in the " Engineering and Mining Journal"
of May nth, 1889, prepared by one of the best known statistical
authorities in Leadville, we reproduce the following epitome of the
prices paid for lead carbonate ores, from the early days of the camp to
the present time. It is a fact worthy of note that there has been a
steady advance in the prices of all Leadville ores.
In January, 1879, the rates were as follows :
For ores carrying 50 to 60 ozs. silver per ton, 44 cents per ounce.
60 to 70 '
70 to 80
80 to 90
90 to 100
100 to 120
120 to 140
140 and over
55
61
65
68
71/2
73
75/2
If carrying over twenty-five per cent, of lead, they paid forty cents
for each unit, and dediicted forty cents for each unit if under twenty
per cent. There was no working charge.
Another form was as follows :
10 cents off New York quotations for silver.
25 cents off per unit for the lead.
$57 per ton working charge.
The schedule now (May, 18S9) current for similar ores is:
LEAD, PER CENT. PRICE PER UNI
15 to 20 30 cents.
20 to 25 40 " .
25 to 3° 40 " •
30 and over 40 "
WORKING CHARGE.
$S-o°
4.50
4.00
3-5°
In the early part of 1879, only ores high in silver could be mar-
keted under the deductions then made by the smelters. At present
only occasional lots of ore are mined which contain above one hundred
ounces silver per ton, the great majority falling below seventy-five
ounces.
452 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
By April, 1879, — quoting from Capt. Dill's sketch of Leadville, "The
boom had fairly commenced and notwithstanding the increased accom-
modations by the multiplication of hotels, it was almost impossible to
secure decent sleeping apartments, and every saloon, private house,
office, even stables, were drawn upon to furnish shelter for the throngs
which poured into the city daily. Four lines of Concord coaches, each
coach capable of bringing eighteen to twenty passengers, and each line
having from two to four coaches going each way daily, ran between
the termini of the railroads and the town. The Denver & South Park
Railroad reached Webster, at the eastern foot of Kenosha Hill, about
the ist of May, and was making preparations for the magnificent feat of
engineering skill that was to transfer its track over the divide between
the Platte and the South Park. Another line of coaches ran between
Canon City and Leadville, and innumerable private hacks brought
many passengers." The population had grown to 8,000, by October
to 12,000, and at the close of the year some of the more extravagant
calculators placed it at 20,000. " The streets in the evening when the
army of miners, speculators and capitalists had returned from the hills,
were crowded from curb to curb. Pedestrians desiring to reach any
given point expeditiously, chose the middle of the street in preference
to the sidewalk, taking their chances of being run over by the dashing
horsemen and coaches that whirled over the smooth roads at any hour
of the day or night." Personal experience taught me that one who
might be in haste must possess his soul in patience, for the dense
masses that blocked Harrison avenue and the greater part of Chestnut
street in the evening, proclaimed "no thoroughfare" unless one drifted
with the current as it moved. And it may be asked, what were all these
throngs of men doing? For the most part they were mere loungers,
though many were prospectors and miners, speculators and traders,
buying, selling, bonding and leasing ; expatiating with feverish volubility
upon this, that and the other claim where rich mineral had been opened,
explaining the latest strikes and discoursing upon the certain promise of
equal or better rewards of adjoining locations, yet to be prospected.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 453
Occasionally the proceedings were enlivened by a fight, or a shooting
matinee. But there was greater safety in the crowded thoroughfares
than on the quieter unlighted streets, where every dark corner seemed
to be infested by footpads, men made desperate by poverty or by their
own profligacy in the drinking saloons, dance houses and gambling
dens, who, whatever their previous lives may have been, were now
ready to rob, steal or murder, if need be, to secure the wherewithal to
continue the courses that had debauched and ruined them. Having
occasion to visit one of the outskirts one evening In the brisker period
of 1879, I was cautioned by friends not to go alone, or I might not
return alive. Nearly every man who was compelled to pass through the
unlighted localities carried a cocked revolver In his hand, and watched
every step, in momentary expectation of being ordered to halt and
surrender.
A number of theaters, and scores of questionable resorts were
open, brilliantly lighted, and all the glittering attractions employed to
entice people into them. Having been Invited to attend one of the
theaters, I asked the hour at which the performance began, and was
told, " O, about ten or eleven o'clock." But when does it close ?
"Along about daylight in the morning," was the reply, and It was
literally true. The blood curdling melodrama billed for the occasion,
began about midnight and continued until 4'A. m. Hundreds roamed
the streets, haunted the saloons or the open gambling rooms, the greater
part of every night, where many strange scenes were enacted between
twilight and dawn. Says Dill, " Following in the wake of the wealth
which daily poured into the camp, were men whose trades were theft and
robbery. To drug a victim, coolly rifle his pockets of every article of
value and throw him into the streets to' be arrested for drunkenness, was
among the most common methods of the thugs that infested the saloons
and variety theaters. The dance houses from which floated alluring
strains of music were thronged, and attracted by the glare of lights
and the novelty of the scene, many a novice with more money than
sense, wandered in. If, In a moment of reckless abandon, inspired by
454 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the wretched Hquor dispensed at such places he exhibited a roll of bills,
he was sure to be spotted, and followed by one or more of the des-
peradoes always present, and the chances were that he would wake up
in an hospital or in some back alley with bleeding head and minus every-
thing upon his person that could be turned into money. Footpads
lurked in every corner awaiting belated business men, or debauchees
reeling their way homeward. The sharp, ominous command, ' Hold up
your hands ! ' accompanied by the click of a pistol, was heard nightly.
Men were robbed within sight of their own doors, and several were
followed into their bedrooms by daring criminals, and stripped of all
their valuables. Men whose duties compelled them to be out late at
night, walked with a pistol in each hand, and not infrequently with a
third in reserve, taking the middle of the street to avoid being ambushed.
No man who could avoid it went into the byplaces alone after dark.
When men connected with the mines were obliged to be in town in the
dark hours, they either took rooms at the hotels or went to their quarters
in squads for mutual protection. One young man, a confidential
employe of a prominent company, in a fit of drunken bravado, exhibited a
large roll of bills in one of the variety theaters. A few minutes after-
ward he started for his room, and on turning the first corner, with the
light from saloons making the locality as bright as day, he received a
blow from a bludgeon, and two hours later woke to consciousness lying
In the gutter into which he had fallen, to discover that his gold watch,
with a thousand dollars of his own and the company's money, had been
taken from him."
These are examples of many Incidents which marked what may be
termed the "plunging period," and aptly Illustrate the condition of
society during the initial stage. Added to the confusion were some
bloody contests over building lots and mining claims, where human lives
were sacrificed and all manner of evil passions engendered. At length,
since the regularly constituted authorities with their police were pow-
erless to arrest, or indifferent to the perils that endangered life and
property, a vigilance committee was organized, which hanged several of
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 455
the leading criminals and warned the remainder out of town on penalty
of like treatment.
The Little Pittsburgh estate was the first upon which a great capital-
ized company was formed, and though it ran a brilliant career and was
the means of attracting greater attention to the district than any other
of its time, was nevertheless, one of the first to give way under the strain
of too great an effort to force monthly dividends of $100,000 upon its
capital stock of twenty millions, and in collapsing, brought disaster to
the whole neighborhood. The confidence of its owners in the vast
resources of this property, and that entertained by the public generally, was
ascribable to ignorance of the nature and extent of the deposits, rather
than to willful misrepresentations, as then so freely alleged. As a matter
of fact, no man, however conversant with the science of mining geology,
could fathom the limit of the ore zones until some of them had been
fully exploited, and it was only by the knowledge acquired from constant
investigation of the different veins in the course of their development,
that right conclusions were evolved.
When the first of these deposits was opened it was widely assumed
that beneath every location or claim of ten acres, there lay ten acres of
mineral, and until it was shown that there were high, low and medium
grades of ore, and grades that were practically worthless, it was assumed
that only the better qualities existed, and that if at the point of attack
the ore was found to be worth $100, or $150 per ton, the entire deposit
might be reckoned on that basis. Consequentl)', the value of every
claim was measured by millions.
As previously stated, the Little Pittsburgh was stocked for twenty
millions, and one-fourth of that amount was soon disposed of in New
York for a million dollars, so eager were the brokers in Wall street for an
opportunity to operate in the famous Leadville mines. Both J. C. Wilson,
the manager, and H. B. Bearce, the Superintendent of underground
operations, informed me in September, 1S79, '^vhen I had made a casual
inspection of the property, that the enormous dividends called for, were
depleting the ore reserves faster than they could be opened, and while
456 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
there was no present sign of a limit to their capacity for production, there
was a hmit to their power for development, and it was a question of only
a short time when a halt must be called, to afford them opportunity for
further exploitation. They entertained extravagant notions of the extent
of the ore body, and felt that under ordinary circumstances they would
be able to meet all demands. Mr. Moffat, before going to New York
in the fall of 1879, ^^ look after the interests of his company there, made
a personal visit to the mine and examined it thoroughly. The deposit
was very large, and there were no evidences anywhere that it would be
exhausted within the limits of the territory covered by the several
locations. Hence, on arriving in New York, his report to the directors
and stockholders was extremely sanguine. During September, Tabor
sold his interest to the company, and from the proceeds thereof pur-
chased a large amount of stock in the First National Bank of Denver.
Sales of the stock upon the exchange in New York were large and
rapid. Of all the mining securities dealt in, these were in greatest
demand, and brought the highest prices. While there were greater
mines than the Little Pittsburgh proved to be in the ultimating issue,
not one had the conspicuous place it held in public estimation and in the
speculative markets. Chaffee and Moffat, basing their opinions upon
frequent personal examinations of the property, and supported by the
reports of the best mining experts of the time, entertained and freely
expressed unbounded confidence in the perpetuity of the resources and
yields. Both were appalled, therefore, when, early in February, 1880,
they being in New York, intelligence came to them from, the manager
that its available resources were well nigh worked out and that the pay-
ment of dividends must be suspended until new explorations could be
made and further ore bodies opened. The stock had risen to $35 and
$40 per share and was selling freely at those figures, and the demand
for it was incessant. Mr. Moffat ordered the manager to New York
post haste, to render a personal account. Finding that the secret could
not long be preserved, and yet hoping that new supplies would be
fo ind, orders were given to push the exploitations as rapidly as possible.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 457
Meanwhile, the market was flooded with the stoclc. Then came the
exposure and sudden collapse. The stock fell from $35 to $6 per share.
Said the brokers to Moffat when the crash came, " If you had not been
so rapid in your deals we intended to catch you on the turn, but your
movement caught us instead. It's all right, however. You are the first
Western man who has escaped a squeeze." Instead of feeling out-
raged by the decline, they simply congratulated him on his superior
shrewdness in standing from under. A few of the class termed innocent
investors, who had purchased the shares in confidence and upon honor
for the gains derivable from a well established, legitimate enterprise,
suffered as a natural consequence, and from such, maledictions loud and
deep, coupled with charges of chicanery and fraud, spread over the land,
to the detriment of this and all other enterprises formed in Leadville.
But the projectors themselves were the victims of a too sanguine
estimate of the reserves in store. While there were not wanting men
of superior perspicacity who asserted their ability to read the pages of
nature like an open book, who predicted an early collapse, it was wholly
impossible for any person to accurately forecast the issue. The mine
contained many great blocks of ore, held in reserve for the continuation
of dividends, which, when penetrated, taken down and tested, proved to
be too barren of silver for the most part, to pay the cost of extraction
and treatment, yet they had been counted as valuable parts of the great
bonanzas, and it was this disappointment more than anything else which
induced the suspension. In the wild e.xcitement of the time, when all
minds were intoxicated and all opinions governed b)- the extraordinary
developments, the bewildering rapidity with which immense fortunes
were made, without an accepted sign of limitation, every one was
imbued with the feeling that the region contained illimitable quantities
of ore, which had only to be punctured to send forth continuous streams
of wealth.
Says Dill, speaking of the effect of the Little Pittsburgh col-
lapse, " The immediate results of the misfortune, were to cause a
sudden decline in all Leadville stocks, to chill the advances of capital.
458 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
and to check the spirit of enterprise which had taken possession
of the people who Hved and beheved in Leadville as a profitable field
for legitimate investment. It was evident that the boom was over, and
the prudent began to realize as closely as possible upon all interests not
necessary to- their legitimate business. Of course this disposition caused
a decline in every direction, and on every side was heard the despairing
cry that Leadville was gone." Under the unwarranted effort to pay
dividends, nearly eleven hundred thousand dollars above the cost of
mining, transportation and smelting, had been distributed among the
stockholders in the course of ten months. There was no time to make
proper exploration for new ore bodies, had they existed. But it was
found that the principal resources of the property lay in a small part of
the Pittsburgh and in greater masses in the New Discovery. To exag-
gerate their misfortunes, uncontrollable volumes of water poured into
the lower levels from countless seams in the rocks, which necessitated
the erection of powerful machinery for its extraction. Meanwhile the
workmen were driven out and important developments ceased. But
with all their striving no further great reserves have been found,
though considerable quantities of ore have been produced from that time
to the present. When the crash came, the property was little more than
a shell, without promise of dividends in the future.
The ultimate issue, though hard to bear by people whose hopes had
been exalted to the lofty pitch that prevailed from 1878 to the early
spring of iSSo, brought with it further humiliation through the loss of
confidence, and the widespread belief that their cherished Leadville was
broken and wholly ruined, and that in its fall had perished the prestige
of Colorado as a mining region. For years afterward our State was
contemptuously rated with Nevada as a rotten borough by the inhab-
itants of the Atlantic States. Nevertheless, instead of proving a total
shipwreck of the district and the State, well defined advantages to both
eventuated. It swept away the unhealthy excitement, scattered the
horde of speculators and non-producers, caused the mines to be more
carefully managed, gave time for necessary exploitation, instituted better
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 459
methods of economic operation, fixed the boundaries of profitable
ground, and led to the establishment of legitimate procedure in every
channel of business and industry. It adjusted innumerable questions
impossible of settlement under former conditions. Under more rational
auspices the managers were enabled to exemplify beyond the power of
contradiction, that Leadville, instead of being prostrated by the cessation
of speculative excitement, was really at the beginning of its greatest
power for production. Instead of stocking, selling, bonding and manip-
ulating through a horde of sharpers, whose occupation had been
destroyed by the upheaval, individuals and companies owning claims
either developed them, or leased their holdings to experienced miners
who restored the output, by bringing scores of new sources of supply to
the ore markets. All the later appliances for mining and smelting were
added. It took time of course to bring about these beneficent changes,
but it was done, and from that time to the present, the district has
abundantly demonstrated its original claim of being the greatest mining
region of the world.
The marvelous boom is one of the traditions of the camp which
no man who has an abiding interest in its future desires to see rein-
stated. Like its predecessors and successors, it gave rise to a vast pro-
cession of fictitious values that were maintained for a few months, only
to be followed by an era of depression. Denver gained more sub-
stantial benefit than any other locality from the unprecedented devel-
opment, for it brought thousands of fixed residents, built the city, gave
it high standing abroad, furnished boundless resources of capital, and
other forces for expansion that were not transitory, but permanent.
From this regenerative influence it derived the means to fortify it
impregnably as the chief city of the State for all time. From the later
results of that era, she has profited even more, for though the sub-
sidence of the speculative frenzy stranded hundreds and thousands of
unfortunate investors in stocks and mines, the constant inpouring of
capital for investment in real estate, buildings, manufactures and com-
460 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
merce, has kept our machinery in motion and supplied funds to maintain
an uninterrupted course of prosperity.
A season of great dullness supervened at the mines on the Upper
Arkansas. A series of disasters followed the fall of Little Pittsburgh.
The Crysolite, Little Chief and others equally celebrated, went down
under the storm. It seemed as if the floodgates of omnipotent wrath
had all at once been opened upon the people for excessive indulgence,
and abuse of the great gifts the gods had bestowed. On the 26th of
May, 1880, the miners in the Crysolite struck for higher wages, — four
dollars per day and eight hour shifts. The movement was led from
first to last by a bold, intelligent and vigorous Irish leader named
Mooney, who, with the characteristic daring of his race, had obtained
the mastery of the elements which made the strike one of gigantic
dimensions. Negotiations between the malcontents and managers fol-
lowed, but both being obstinate, nothing good came out of them. As a
consequence the strike spread to all the principal mines, the workmen
walked out and crowded into the town ; organized a procession with a
brass band at the head and marched to the various shafts where such as
were at work were called out and joined them. While no acts of vio-
lence occurred, the demonstration was powerful and alarming, the less
prudent uttering threats against life and property. Mooney held his
forces well in hand, however, exercising a strong and, under the circum-
stances, judicious control. Great excitement ensued. The marching
miners, the stoppage of the mines, the indiscreet brawlers in the ranks,
all conspired to produce a sense of coming danger. No man could fore-
tell what the result would be, but everything indicated serious disorder
and bloodshed. The miners held meetings and defined their course
of action. The business men and law-abiding citizens met also and
gravely discussed the situation, devising ways and means to meet the
emergency. After the daily scenes of confusion and dread had pro-
ceeded for about two weeks, threats to kill, burn and destroy became
more and more pronounced. The citizens organized with a view to
bringing the matter to a crisis. There were many in the ranks of the
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 461
strikers, and others who had not joined them, who desired to return to
work under former regulations, but were prevented by the majority.
The citizens' committee asked the business men to close their houses,
take arms in their hands, and, by force if necessary, disperse the mob,
and at the same time protect such as were desirous of resuming work.
Several cases of State rifles, with ammunition, had been sent up by the
Governor in response to representations made to him. They formed
an imposing semi-military procession, marched through the streets and
displayed their strength and determination to the best advantage,
but instead of quelling the rioters it only increased the hostility and
turbulence. The miners, instead of being overawed, were irritated
to the fighting point by the evident attempt to force them to an
acceptance of the manager's terms. Though well intended, the parade
proved a lamentable fiasco, for it aggravated, intensified and spread
the discontent irreconcilably, coming dangerously near precipitating
the awful consequences it was designed to check. Says Dill : " The
moment came at last, and only the most determined efforts of the
officers prevented a riot that would have caused great loss of life."
During the parade, " One of the rioters, incensed at something said or
done by the commander of the horsemen, fired a pistol at him. The
shot caused the wildest alarm, and three or four of the horsemen
charged upon the throng with drawn pistols, causing it to scatter in
terror." These sadly misguided proceedings, born of the hot passions
of the hour, produced universal inflammation. Then every one realized
that the crisis so long delayed was about to burst forth in the red flames
of war. Luckily the police appeared upon the scene in force, arrested
the too impetuous riders who had provoked the startling breeze, and
bore them away. Soon afterward a well organized and disciplined com-
pany of militia marched to the center of disturbance, and charging, soon
cleared the streets.
This narrow escape from deadly peril inspired the better citizens to
call upon Governor Pitkin for military aid. Telegrams poured in upon
him all through the Saturday following. They advised him that the
462 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
sheriff of the county and the poHce of the city had exhausted their
power to restore order, and that nothing less potential than a decla-
ration of martial law and the presence of a regiment of troops, would
preserve the peace. These demands continued by mail and wire until
late Saturday night, and were renewed with even more emphatic in-
sistence Sunday morning. The Governor, while fully alive to the
gravity of the situation, was extremely averse to putting the city and
county under military law. He resorted to every device to avoid com-
pliance with the demand, realizing its consequences. He telegraphed
and wrote to his staunch personal friends upon whose wisdom and
discretion he relied, for private and strictly accurate accounts of the
state of affairs, among them to Judge J. D. Ward, as to the necessity
and advisability of declaring martial law. It was upon their answers
he acted rather than those of the more excited leaders of the citizens'
movement. Having been with him throughout this trying period of
his administration, I speak from personal knowledge. Some of his
more intimate friends and counsellors gathered about him to offer what
advice and aid might be required. Suffering from an incurable disease,
racked with physical pain, his mind tortured with anxiety, weak from
loss of sleep, nervous and exhausted from the excitement of the tre-
mendous strain of conflicting reports, impelled to do what was right,
and only that in the performance of a solemn duty, yet unable to pierce
the clouds of differing statements that came in endless profusion, he
was at a loss to discover the wisest and most prudent course. He was
constantly beset by the apprehension that in the heated condition of the
public mind at Leadville, undue advantage would be taken of a resort
to military force. If the order must be issued, who should be placed in
command? It must be a man whose position with all classes was cal-
culated to inspire respect, whose judgment, courage and skill would be
exercised to the attainment of the aim in view, of abating violence and
restoring peace and the orderly resumption of work in the great mines.
Several were named, but rejected on the ground of unfitness for so
great a responsibility. At length the name of Hon. William H. James
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 463
was suggested, and instantly adopted. The Governor asked me to tel"-
egraph for his acceptance. I did so, and, a favorable answer being
returned, his commission as Brigadier General was immediately pre-
pared and forwarded, with instructions to organize a regiment of troops
and employ them to the best possible advantage. Simultaneously went
the order declaring martial law in Lake County, and placing the com-
mand of all the forces in his charge. Notification having preceded
the act by wire, the good effect was immediate. The troops were
organized, armed, equipped and judiciously placed where the objects
sought might be most speedily and effectively attained. Governor
Pitkin recognized in its fullest meaning the possible and probable
bearing of his warrant to suspend the civil law, and that it should not
be granted except upon the most positive assurances from sources he
felt bound to trust, that nothing less arbitrary would save the city.
This assurance having been given by the sheriff, by the citizens' com-
mittee, and by his confidential friends, he sat down to his table, thickly
strewn with letters and telegrams and nervously wrote. out his procla-
mation. At times he would pause in the writing to say to those about
him, "Gentlemen, please bear witness that I do this with extreme reluc-
tance, but it seerns to be the only solution of the difficulty, and I feel
that it must be done."
Says Dill, writing from the scene of action, " The effect was
magical. On Sunday night the streets were as quiet as those of any
city of its size.." A regiment of volunteers was quickly raised and as
quickly equipped for the field. General James issued his orders and
they were obeyed. All classes, none more deeply than the more intel-
ligent of the striking miners, respected and aided him in restoring a
peaceful status. It was his influence, perhaps more than the display of
arms which reduced the city from rioting and rebellion to peace and
order.
No further incidents of importance occurred. The long strike
ended on the i8th of June, the organization dissolved, the men resumed
work, and on the 26th the Governor revoked his proclamation and dis-
464 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
banded the troops. This was the first and last social crisis of that
nature in the history of Leadville. The strike was without adequate
cause. Its effect was aggravated and prolonged by lack of wise dis-
cretion on both sides. Properly handled, there would have been no
excuse for martial law, and that it was not properlj- handled was directly
attributable to the acts of certain men on horseback with an inordinate
passion for display. There is little in the history of the case to induce
the conclusion that the strikers really intended a resort to violence, and
there is much to show that true valor and sound common sense on the
part of the city and county authorities, had they not yielded to exterior
clamor, might have dispersed the malcontents, saved great alarm and a
large bill of expense to the State.
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER XXII.
Hard times of iSye-'yy — dawn of a new era in 1S78 — first great immigration
TO LEADVILLE EFFECT UPON THE STATE — BUILDING OF THE CLARENDON HOTEL
DISCOVERY OF ROBINSON MINES IN SUMMIT COUNTY TRAGIC DEATH OF LIEU-
TENANT GOVERNOR ROBINSON COMPLETION OF THE RIO GRANDE RAILROAD-
DISCOVERIES IN CHAFFEE, GUNNISON AND PITKIN COUNTIES — INFLUENCE OF LEAD-
VILLE ON STATE POLITICS — FOUNDING OF NEWSPAPERS BANKS AND BANKERS
LEADVILLE AS A SMELTING POINT.
The winter of 1876-77 was one of great severity in the mountains,
and along the plains. The agricultural sections had suffered grievous
losses by the ravages of grasshoppers. The worst effects of the panic of
1S73, came about the same time and, combined with a general destruc-
tion of crops, caused universal depression. The masses were poor, and
many were reduced to absolute destitution.
Times were never harder or more distressing to the majority than
during that season. Wages and salaries had been attenuated to the last
degree ; hundreds were working for their board, and other hundreds
vainly seeking places at any price. While the reports from over
the range gave some hope of a brighter future, they excited no
deeper feeling than the wish that the discoveries made might prove
equal to the anticipations of those who made them, for there was no
accepted recognition ; at best only a faint promise of the great flood-
time of prosperity that was to issue out of them, was visible. Period-
ically, all through the years, from 1859 forward, similar hopes had been
raised only to be dashed to pieces on the rocks of disappointment.
Camps sprang up In a day, only to die of Inanition the next.
Denver itself was scarcely more than an overgrown village. It had
7,0 II
466 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
made some advances for a year or two after the arrival of railways, but
in 1876-77 its population was not more than 10,000. The Denver &
South Park road, handicapped by poverty and by an exceedingly difficult
and expensive route through Platte Caiion, was struggling against man-
ifold adversities and making little progress. All about the horizon the
prospect was indescribably dark and forbidding. The State had been
admitted, a new and more costly government instituted, but the legis-
lature and State officers were continually admonished to observe the
closest practicable economy. It was a time which imperatively demanded
the restriction of all expenditures, public and private.
The ensuing summer of 1878 brought a wonderful new epoch, filled
with peace and plenty. The locusts had taken flight, the tillers of the
soil were inspired with renewed courage to " plant, and sow, and reap ;"
the area of cultivation widened, crops were abundant, and all trains from
the eastward came crowded with people ; millions of fresh capital poured
in, and the premonitory signs of a grand revolution dispelled the clouds,
quickened the energies of men, set a thousand propelling influences at
work, and turned all eyes with eager interest to the delvers beneath the
porphyritic hills above the new metropolis that had arisen and already
become great, from whence came glad tidings of regeneration and
salvation.
The South Park, the Rio Grande and the Atchison, Topeka &
Santa Fe railways were pushing into the new Eldorado, as fast as men
and money could drive them, each eager to secure the rich traffic created
along the Upper Arkansas, then monopolized by mule and cattle trains.
Lines of stages put on from Denver and Colorado Springs, were
crowded to their utmost capacity with passengers and express matter,
while hundreds, unable to procure any sort of conveyance, were tramping
on foot over the rugged and dusty highways. For the first time since
their construction, the trunk lines from the Missouri River to Colorado
found their accommodations inadequate to the constantly increasing
demands upon them for cars and faster trains.
The chief city of the State, stagnant and inert before, now began to
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 467
assume the appearance of an active, bustling community. Real estate,
for which there had been neither inquiry nor sale of consequence during
the preceding four years, suddenly rose into unwonted prominence for
safe and profitable investment. The increase of population became
so great it was impossible to provide shelter for the multitudes,
notwithstanding the enormous and wholly unprecedented advance of
building that followed. Business locations, dwellings and lodgings,
which had long stood unoccupied and unsought were filled, and hundreds
added, only to be taken as soon as completed. Commerce and manu-
factures were strained to their utmost to meet the volume of orders
that poured in upon them. Thousands seemed to be moved by a
new born impulse to move westward. Hundreds of mining companies
were formed ; the old craze of 1 863-64 when all the discovered, and
many undiscoverable mines of Gilpin County passed into the possession
of eastern holders, was renewed with tenfold vigor. Not Denver
alone, but all the settled divisions of the State were incalculably ben-
efited by the new blood thus forcibly injected into their veins. Mul-
tiform new industries were inaugurated, the channels of enterprise filled
to overflowing ; the field of discovery and development extended from
center to circumference, and its available resources were brought under
fashioning hands. Therefore, when we say that Leadville was the base
and moving power, which in its on-rushing force made Colorado what
it is to-day, it is but the proclamation of strict historical truth. From
this mighty movement sprang the prestige and the greater prominence
which we have since enjoyed, and which has enlarged and strengthened
our position in the center of the great West. We behold it to-day with
unmistakable clearness of vision, in the concentration of influences that are
gradually, but surely, making this commonwealth the most potential that
has been erected between the Missouri and the Pacific Sea. It is now
compelling the principal railway companies to so shorten and bend their
lines, as to make it the chief center of their transcontinental traffic.
In the beginning, Chestnut street extending from the mines
straight down through Leadville almost to the borders of the Arkansas
468 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
River, became by a common movement, its chief thoroughfare, but in
January, 1S79, ^^'- H- Bush, Col. John Arkins, and a few other intrepid
spirits, forecasting the future with characteristic perspicuity, made a
quick chversion of settlement to Harrison avenue. Six months later it
became the principal business artery of the town. Bush had acquired
some celebrity as a hotel manager in Kansas, and latterly from his
conduct of the Teller House at Central City. When the triumph of
the new district began to be apparent to every mind, he converted all
his available possessions into cash, — which gave him at best only a
small capital, — and with it repaired to Leadville. Plunging into the
very thickest of the wild scramble going on there, he soon realized from
fortunate speculations in real estate and mines, funds enough to justify
him in carrying out his cherished plan for a large hotel, which he
foresaw would yield him a golden harvest. Selecting an eligible site
on Harrison avenue, he built the Clarendon. Lumber was worth in the
market $50 to $60 a thousand feet, and scarce, even at those figures.
The greater part, perhaps all of the lumber and other materials used in
this structure had to be transported over the mountains, — mainly from
Denver, — in wagons at the high tariffs then prevailing. Workmen were
few and wages high. The hotel was completed and opened April loth,
1879. All the luxuries of the table, and most of the staples were
brought from Denver by stage express at heavy expense. It was no
sooner opened than it was filled, and thenceforward a source of great
profit to its owner. It was soon supplemented by the erection of the
Tabor Opera House, just a few yards above, on the same side of the
street. From the date when Mr. Bush commenced the Clarendon, the
future of the avenue, as the chief business emporium of the city, became
a certainty. The hotel became also the headquarters of mine managers,
speculators and travelers. In an incredibly short time, Bush, by the
rapidity and sagacity of his financial schemes, was recognized as one of
the leading spirits of the town.
The enormous immigration, and the impossibility of providing all
with minino- claims, since the entire face of the region round about had
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 469
been taken by prior arrivals, soon compelled a series of explorations
across the divide in Summit County. Early in the spring of 1879,
though the country was thickly covered with snow, multitudes turned
their faces toward Ten Mile District and Eagle River. In a short
time the town of Carbonateville was established, but being injudiciously
located with respect to the better mines subsequently opened, it was
soon abandoned and fell into decay.
The Robinson group of mines was discovered in 1878. These,
with others, the White Quail, Wheel of Fortune, and great numbers of
lesser value, stimulated the belief for a time that the equal, if not the
superior, of Leadville had been found. The town of Kokomo, now a
deserted ruin, was founded February 8th, 1879. The Robinson mines*
were discovered in the fall of 1878 by Charles Jones and John Y.
Shedden, who were sent out by Mr. George B. Robinson, then a Lead-
ville merchant, who furnished the supplies, and was to be accorded one-
half of each mine they might discover. In June following they found
and located the ten deposits which afterward attained much celebrity
under the designation, " Robinson Group." Toward the close of that
year Robinson purchased the interests of his partners, and in April,
1880, organized in New York the Robinson Consolidated Mining
company, with a capital stock of $10,000,000. The town of Robinson
was founded the same year. Robinson built a fine hotel there and
made the place the principal business point in Summit Count)- ; estab-
lished a banking house, erected quite extensive smelting works, en-
couraged many public enterprises adapted to the locality, and became
one of the public men of the day. In November, 1880, so great was
his popularity, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of the State, though
he had been a resident only two years.
Pursuing his meteoric career to its tragic conclusion, it may be
stated that, owing to a dispute between his company and a party of
contestants led by Capt. J. W. Jacque, over the ownership of a mine
called the Smuggler, which threatened to terminate in armed conflict.
■■ From R. G. Dill's sketch of Ten Mile regi^
470 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Mr. Robinson placed guards, with rifles in their hands, about his
property with orders to keep out intruders, and to fire upon any one not
authorized, who should attempt to enter the mine. On the evening of
November 27th, Robinson, while on a round of inspection to ascertain if
the guards were in their places, it having been reported to him that
Capt. Jacque was about to take forcible possession, went to the door of
his barricaded tunnel, but without making himself known. The guard
stationed inside, true to his instructions, demanded to know who was
there, but without awaiting a reply, instantly fired. The bullet struck
Robinson in the side, and on the 29th he died from the wound.
Thus the State lost its Lieutenant Governor, and one of its
brightest and ablest young men. In the height of their prosperity, or
during the time of Robinson's management, and for a short time after-
ward, these mines were very productive and profitable, but the yields did
not continue. While they have been operated at various times with
favorable results, their glory departed with the ephemeral fame of the
Carbonate era, and are now but one of the traditions of that memorable
time.
The Denver & South Park Railway reached Buena Vista early in
1880, but instead of proceeding to Leadville pushed on toward Gunnison,
having made an arrangement for the use of the Rio Grande track,
when it should be completed, for its connection with the Carbonate
camp. After the cancellation of their lease to the Santa Fe, the
directors of the Rio Grande pushed their road rapidly up the Arkansas
River, arriving at Leadville July 20th, 1880. It was extended to
Robinson December 27th, and to Red Cliff in March, 1882. The intro-
duction of rapid transit was an important factor in reducing all things to
a substantial basis.
During 1879 valuable discoveries were made in Chaffee, Gunnison
and Pitkin Counties, each induced by the immigration to Leadville,
from whose original population all these counties were largely peopled
and developed. Much of the overflow extended to and rejuvenated the
San Juan region. It led to the building of many new towns, to the
'k.SwHiCl^
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 471
opening of coal and iron mines in Gunnison, and to the exploration of a
very large scope of country, that has since become largely productive.
The first discoveries at Aspen and Ashcroft, were made by Leadville
prospectors, as well as those at Red Cliff, Robinson and other portions
of Summit County.
From 1879 until 1882-83, the large population of the Upper
Arkansas valley exercised a dominating influence upon the politics of
the State. They sent down to the conventions at Denver overwhelming
delegations, based upon their own estimates of numbers, which ranged
between twenty and fifty thousand, present and prospective, and by
persistent bulldozing compelle'd their admission to seats. As a rule, they
accomplished their purposes in directing the nominations, securing for
themselves a liberal allotment of the desirable offices. Though some-
what more moderate in later years. Lake County still continues to exert,
if not a controlling influence in State affairs, at least a very perceptible
force in shaping its political ends.
As in every other city and town, the newspapers have borne a con-
spicuous part in the general development and progress. The first
journalistic venture was a weekly, called the Leadville " Reveille," pub-
lished by Richard S. Allen, who had acquired some experience, first as
solicitor and correspondent of the " Miner's Register" at Central City,
and next as editor and proprietor of the Fairplay " Sentinel." In
August, 1878, he moved the presses and material of the "Sentinel" to
Leadville, and begun publishing the " Reveille." A short time after-
ward Mr. W. F. Hogan, editor of the Mount Lincoln " News" at Alma,
transferred his office to the same point, changed the name of the paper to
the " Eclipse," issued it in weekly form for a few weeks, and then took
the bolder venture of a daily.
The greatest newspaper ever established in Lake County, and the
only one that has successfully weathered the crucial tests of time, which
exercised greatest influence in moulding public policy, outstripping all
contemporaries and ultimately absorbing their remains ; which still sur-
vives, and still continues to e.xert a powerful control, was the "Chronicle."
472 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
In November, 187S, three printers, John Arkins, Carlyle C. Davis and
James Burnell, employed upon the Denver " Tribune," the first as
foreman of the mechanical department, the second as compositor at the
case, and the third as assistant foreman, were, by the circumstances
subjoined, induced to form a partnership and establish a daily newspaper
and job printing office at Leadville.
Burnell, younger and perhaps more impressionable than his associ-
ates, had been made somewhat restless by the exciting reports from that
direction, being weary of the laborious routine of the composing room,
and fired with ambition to expend his splendid virile strength in a field
where fame and riches were to be gained, resolved to explore it. It was
arranged with Arkins and Davis that he should go there and " prospect,"
either for mines or an eligible business opportunity in their joint behalf,
reporting from time to time the result of such investigations. Burnell
took the South Park Railway to its terminus in Platte Canon, proceeding
thence by stage to the Carbonate camp, via Weston Pass. After
looking over the situation, the mines and the general aspect of affairs,
he was offered a third interest in the Robert E. Lee mine for $1,500.
but scornfully rejected it as an extremely hazardous investment, since
it was then but a mere prospect of no particular value, and thereby
escaped the fortune of a millionaire, for only a few months later it
developed into the richest mine in the district. He w«as not long in
discovering, however, that a well conducted daily paper, with a com-
mercial printing office attached, would be, on the whole, safer and more
certain to men of his training than mining, therefore wrote his im-
pressions to his partners, who, approving, wired him to return and report
in person. He did so, and the organization of a company to perfect the
scheme was immediately executed. The conference lasted most of the
night.
Each had lain by from his savings about one thousand dollars,
which, reinforced by a small loan, furnished the wherewithal for the
purchase of type, presses and material. In the next issue of the
"Tribune" their plan was announced, and the ist of January, 1879,
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 473
fixed as the date on which the Leadville " Daily Chronicle " would make
its appearance in the new field. Although their anticipations were not
fully consummated as to date, they were auspiciously fulfilled toward the
close of that month.
Mr. Davis started at once for St. Louis, and there purchased the
requisite plant. Arkins proceeded to Leadville, .secured a location on
Harrison avenue, and erected a small frame building thereon, Burnell
assuming his duties on the "Tribune" and managing them until the
others should be ready for his co-operation. Their presses and material
reached Colorado Springs January 8th, 1879, ^.nd were shipped thence
over the mountains in the depth of winter. All the roads were buried
in snow, and the weather was extremely cold. Several accidents
occurred en route, which well nigh exhausted the patience and profane
resources of the hardy freighters. Arkins had bought for two hundred
and fifty dollars a squatter's title to the lot he held on Harrison avenue.
As an illustration of the rapid rise of real estate in that quarter after the
tide of popular selection began to center there, it may be stated that he
was offered $3,300 for his title within six weeks after the transfer.
After many vexatious delays the office was put in order, and on the
29th of January the initial number of the "Chronicle" was issued. It
was a small five column folio, and sold at ten cents a copy. Arkins
assumed editorial control. Mr. Davis conducted the business depart-
ment, and Burnell directed the other working forces. The first day
three hundred copies were sold ; the second, seven hundred, and within
a month they were printing and selling twenty-five hundred copies
daily. Finding their material inadequate to the demand, new supplies
were ordered and the paper enlarged. Before the close of 1879 their
circulation mounted to 5,000 copies daily. A weekly edition, made up
from the daily issues, was published every Sunday morning, when the
miners were down from the hills, and the streets alive with people, all
eager to secure the latest news. The growth of this hebdomadal
became one of the surprising features of the enterprise. The first
-edition of five hundred was soon increased to seven thousand.
474 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
In reviewing the early struggles of the proprietors, Major Henry-
Ward, a veteran journalist, and one of the ablest and most venerated
in the profession, wrote as follows : " Editorials were written on the
ends of boxes ; local sensations were strung out on imposing stones,
the writers meantime dodging the job printers, and paragraphs were
constructed on the edges of cases. The bookkeeper prodded the com-
positor as he moved his pen ; the job foreman jostled the table of the
editor as he sought a new font of tj-pe, the carrier boy squirmed
around among the legs of printers, editors and all, as he came in after
his papers ; as the editor stretched out his feet he pied a case or two of
type. At night (owing to the scarcity of lodgings elsewhere) the
building served as a lodging house for the entire force, twenty in
number. They corded themselves up on the floor, or laid themselves
away on narrow shelves along the walls. Job work came in a literal
avalanche to bewilder and almost overwhelm, and to tax type and
presses and room beyond reason. Prices ruled high. Everything was
cash ; money came in rapidly.''
The demand for the paper was so great, the presses were kept run-
ning until 9 o'clock in the evening. Its success was assured from the
first issue. Every inch of available space was crowded with adver-
tisements at any rates the business manager chose to assess, and as his.
modesty rarely interfered with his judgment, the bills were fearful to
contemplate. As a natural result they made money at a rate that
astounded them.
On the I St of July, 1879, Mr. Burnell disposed of his interest to
Arkins and Davis, retired with a net return of $3,720 as his share of
the profits from five months' operation, and thereafter engaged in
mining at Red Cliff. He purchased several undeveloped claims in the
mineral belt, among them the "Iron Mask." In September, 1881, he
returned to Denver, and took charge of the mechanical forces of the
" Rocky Mountain News,'' then owned by W. A. H. Loveland. May
19th, 1884, he sold the "Iron Mask" to W. F. Lay and associates for
$25,000 cash, a claim which in its development by the new owners-
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 475
came to be the most productive in the region, and at one time was
valued at $2,000,000. Here a second time Mr. Burnell missed the tide
that led on to a colossal fortune.
Owing to ill health and excessive application to editorial work in
the lofty altitude of Leadville, Mr. Arkins, on the ist of April, 1880,
sold his interest to Mr. Davis for $10,000, went east for a short
vacation, and in June following purchased a fourth interest in the
" Rocky Mountain News," of which he assumed the editorial and busi-
ness management. Under the scandalous conduct of his predecessor,
Barrett, the paper had fallen into a dangerous decline of patronage and
character, but in a short time Arkins, by his fine abilities as a writer and
superior business management, restored it to the front rank of western
journals. Thenceforward the primal reputation of the " News" has
been steadily maintained. On the 2d of March, 1886, John Arkins, his
brother Maurice and James Burnell, purchased the entire establishment,
becoming sole and equal owners. In August, 1887, Maurice died. His
widow retained his interest until February, 1888, when it was purchased
by John Arkins and James Burnell, the surviving partners.
As sole proprietor of the " Leadville Chronicle," Mr. Davis met
with even greater success than had been achieved in the first years of its
establishment, by directing his superb abilities to the conduct of his
paper, and to the concentration of its power. Its rapid rise and unex-
ampled advancement, however, soon attracted sharp competitors, the
first of whom was Captain R. G. Dill of Denver, who organized a joint
stock company, and on the 21st of October, 1879, began publishing the
" Leadville Daily Herald." Like its predecessor, it advocated the prin-
ciples of the Republican party, published a large amount of news from
the mines, with other current intelligence, and soon became one of the
most admirable newspapers of the State. In the heated political
contests of the period, when that city largely dominated the conventions
of both parties, the local Democracy, being without an organ, was
placed at a disadvantage, hence Mr. Loveland, proprietor of the
" Rocky Mountain News," inspired by his editor-in-chief, John M.
476 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Barrett, resolved to establish one in the Carbonate camp. A stock
company was formed and the " Daily Democrat " established, the initial
number appearing January ist, 1880. Its first editor was M. J. Gavisk,
a young man possessing superior capabilities as a reporter, developed
upon the Denver press, but scarcely fitted for the higher duties of chief
control. It may be stated to his credit, however, that no man in the
profession enjoyed a larger share of the respect and esteem of the craft
than he, for he was a gentleman whom to know was to admire and love,
for the perfect purity of his life and character, as well as for his incom-
parable excellence as a news gatherer and compiler. His delicate
physique and feeble health soon gave way under the strain of these
unaccustomed duties, and compelled his resignation. He returned to
Denver, and became private secretary to Governor Pitkin, and soon
after passed to his long account, and, it is hoped, to the eternal joy
which he so richly deserved.
He was succeeded by Captain James T. Smith, an editor of much
renown, capable of more hard work, perhaps, than any of his brethren,
who has been more than twenty years engaged as principal editorial
writer on the "News," and is to-day apparently unworn and as vigorous
as when he began, and rarely known to take a vacation or suffer the
slightest inconvenience from ill health. Mr. W. F. Robinson, now
cashier and assistant manager of the Denver " Republican,'' also a
graduate of the pioneer newspaper, the " News," assumed the business
management. The enterprise made flattering progress under these
auspices, until the great miners' strike which has been elsewhere epito-
mized, when, owing to a division of sentiment respecting its attitude in
that crisis, Loveland withdrew, and the Leadville stockholders assumed
charge, employing Colonel J. L. Bartow as editor-in-chief.
A year or two later Mr. C. C. Davis absorbed both the " Herald"
and the " Democrat," and consolidated the three establishments under
his personal direction and ownership. While others have attempted to
invade the field, his only competitor of importance at this writing (1S89)
is the " Dispatch," conducted by Mr. P. A. Leonard.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 477
A number of banks were organized during the booming period,
and such as were managed by experienced and prudent men, who, by
wise discrimination, knew when to grant credits and when to refuse,
who avoided speculation and restricted their accounts to the basis of
reliable security, were measurably successful. Three of these insti-
tutions that sprang up and flourished ostentatiously when all things
were inflated to their highest tension, fell into ruin through profligate
management, and two of them were shipwrecked by the dishonesty of
the controlling powers.
The Lake County bank was established in May, 1878. In April,
1879, it was converted into the First National, with a capital stock of
$60,000. J. T. Eshelman was chosen president, F. A. Raynolds, vice-
president, and John W. Zollars, cashier. Some time later Mr. Eshel-
man resigned and was succeeded by Mr. Raynolds.
The Miners' Exchange, -a private bank, with a capital of $25,000,
was organized and opened for business April 15th, 1878, by James B.
McFerran, George Trimble and A. V. Hunter, all of Colorado Springs.
The Bank of Leadville was organized in October 1878, with a
capital of $50,000 ; H. A. W. Tabor, president, August Rische, vice-
president, and George R. Fisher, cashier, and soon assumed the head-
ship of financial affairs. Its business for 1880, as epitomized by Dill,
showed total deposits amounting to $61,000,000; checks paid, to
$31,000,000; exchange bought, $16,000,000; exchange sold, $15,-
000,000; telegraph transfers paid, $1,334,000; telegraph transfers sold,
$412,000.
The Merchants' and Mechanics bank was established in the
summer of 1879, by L. M. and L. J. Smith, with a capital of $25,000, and
the City bank in June, 1880, with a capital of $50,000; C. C. Howell,
president, James Streeter, vice-president, and S. M. Strickler, cashier.
The prodigious growth of the city, and the magnitude of trans-
actions in ore, bullion and general traffic, frequently drained the banks
of currency, when resort was had to those of Denver. Prior to the
completion of the railways, when road agents haunted the stage routes,
478 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
and banditti swarmed everywhere, it was a perilous matter to transfer
large sums of money from Denver to Leadville. In many cases indi-
viduals possessing- honesty and courage, were employed to make the
venture on horseback, or in light vehicles with swift horses. Notwith-
standing the dangers apprehended, not an instance of robbery occurred.
Very few, if indeed any of the well established mines in this won-
derful district can be said to be wholly exhausted, though from most of
the celebrities of the first three years only a small tonnage is now pro-
duced. The Maid of Erin combination, and the Iron-Silver-Mining
company are still producing enormously and have immense reserves
blocked out for future supply. It is estimated by the manager of the
company first named, Mr. Eben Smith, that the value of the reserves in
that property, in silver and lead, ascertained by trustworthy tests, is
from five to six millions of dollars, and it is undoubtedly the greatest
mine in the world thus far developed. The A. Y. & Minnie group ;
those of the Mikado company; the Terrible, Silver Cord, Dunkin,
Matchless and others on Fryer Hill, the Morning and Evening Stars,
with many others, are still contributing considerable amounts of good ore.
The prestige of the Small Hopes combination, which for nearly
four years paid very large dividends, the whole amounting to $3,-
112,000 over and above all expenses, has waned, and the payment of
dividends stopped, but the owners are not without hope that the
present system of extensive exploitations will be rewarded by the dis-
covery of other bonanzas.
From 1878 down to the time of the removal of the Grant smelter
to Denver, and the Billings & Eiler to Pueblo, Leadville was the chief
smelting center of the State. At present writing only four concerns
are in operation there : The American, with five furnaces ; the Arkansas
Valley, with seven ; the Harrison Reduction works, with four, and the
Manville, with three.
According to local statisticians. Lake County has produced, from
1879 to 1888 inclusive, silver being reckoned at its coin value (129.29
per fine ounce), and lead at the average commercial rate, a total of
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 479
$135,568,773, or an average of $15,063,177 annually, for the entire
period. While it is impossible to obtain the exact figures, it must be
apparent to those familiar with the facts, that in the sum total are
included such of the products of Summit, Eagle, Park, Chaffee, and
possibly of Gunnison counties that have been shipped to the smelters at
Leadville, which in some years was quite large. My own opinion is,
though it cannot be justified, for the reason that there is no way of
determining the amount and value of the contributions from exterior
sources, that a fair average for Lake County is about $12,000,000 per
annum, or $108,000,000 for the nine years. Even this estimate gives a
larger total than any other silver mining district of the world has pro-
duced in the corresponding time.
Though the period of inflation has passed, never to return, the fame
of the district is perpetuated and distinguished above all others by its
great productiveness. As many fortunes are being accumulated there
as at any former time, but by more legitimate methods. That the
process will continue through the present generation of operators, seems
highly probable. Further reference to the present condition, epito-
mizing its progress for the last decade, will appear in the next volume.
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER XXIII.
l87S-'79 REVIEW OF THE YEAR^RAPID DEVELOPMENT RETIREMENT OF W. N. BYERS
FROM THE "news" HIS SERVICES TO THE COUNTRY^JOHN L. DAILEY TRANSFER
OF THE "news" to W. A. H. LOVELAND DEMOCRATIC STATE CONVENTION
PROPOSED DIVISION OF THE STATE REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION F. W.
PITKIN ELECTED GOVERNOR RETIREMENT OF SENATOR J. B. CHAFFEE — ELECTION
OF N. P. HILL TO THE SENATE SERVICES IN THAT BODY.
At the beginning of 1878, ten hundred and thirty-three miles of
railway had been completed and put in operation. The crops of 1877
were the largest that had ever been gathered In Colorado. The mines
yielded a trifle over seven millions in gold and silver bullion. The
exports of live stock were much larger than usual. The wheat crop
from the small area cultivated, was estimated at 1,750,000 bushels; the
corn crop at 250,000 bushels; oats, 125,000; barley, 200,000; potatoes,
325,000; hay, 100,000 tons.
According to the nearest approximate, the coal mines produced
213,077 tons. The wool clip, calculated by the same process, was placed
at 5,000,000 pounds. The assessed valuation of property gave a total
of $40,882,412.36.
There were 1,552,774 acres of improved lands valued at $7,724,-
794-25-
The records of the Surveyor General's office showed that 92,486
acres of land, and 314 mining claims had been surveyed in 1877.
The collections for internal revenue were $79,225.44 ; the real
estate transfers In Denver, as expressed in warranty deeds recorded,
amounted to $1,048,250; the Denver Water company had eighteen
miles of street mains, and In winter furnished daily 500,000 gallons of
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 481
water, and in the summer 1,250,000 gallons. Its capital stock was then
bi •■ $250,000.
The Denver Gas company, with a capital stock of $200,000, had
lain nine and a half miles of mains, and manufactured 13,000,000 feet of
gas ; two hundred and thirty-three lamps illuminated the streets.
The Denver Horse Railway company had eight miles of track ;
tweive cars ; thirty-two horses, and eighteen men, and carried 392,420
passengers during the year.
The commercial value of the products of coal, hay, grain, bullion,
cattle, wool, hides, etc., and of the manufactured products of the State,
was placed at $22,252,705.60.
The English, or High-line irrigating canal, from Platte Canon, was
projected in 1877.
Prof. N. P. Hill, manager of the Boston & Colorado Smelting
works, perfected his plans for the re-location of his plant near Denver,
and it was removed to the point now called " Argo," in 1878.
On the 5th of May, William N. Byers surrendered his pecuniary
interest in, and editorial control of the Rocky Mountain " News," to an
organization comprising Kemp G. Cooper, manager ; W. B. Vickers,
editor ; William F. Robinson, secretary and treasurer ; W. R. Thomas,
city editor, and L. B. France, attorney. Thus, after nineteen years of
continuous work, the man who established the first newspaper in the
Rocky Mountain region, began and perpetuated the history of Colorado ;•
who, in the process of the years, had intelligently explored and graph-
ically described, for the benefit of his contemporaries and successors,
every portion of the country, traced every stream to its source, witnessed
the founding of every town and hamlet ; who had passed through all
the storms of the earliest epoch, had led the political and every other
form of progressive movement, and from whose writings the world
obtained the greater part of its current intelligence of the resources and
development of the Territory, and who established, or at least was
largely instrumental in locating two of our three great colonies,- — passed
out of the office wherein he had been a potent counsellor and guide, into
31 II.
482 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the walks of private life, leaving to other, albeit able minds, the duty of
carrying on to a higher consummation the grand work he had begun.
Mr. Byers was as much a part of Colorado as the laws that had been
enacted for its government ; the embodiment of its annals, the directing
spirit of its public institutions and enterprises. The growth of his
newspaper had marked and reflected the development of the Territory
and the opening years of the State, and to the full extent of his efforts,
promoted their advancement. His energy and courage, his unsurpassed
knowledge of the entire region, and his well grounded faith in its great
destiny, his incessant labors for its welfare, and the success which
crowned his endeavors, are known of all men. The Republican party
especially, owes much of its long continued supremacy to his sturdy
advocacy of its principles and its candidates.
It would be unjust to close this sketch without according at least
a word of commendation to his nearest friend, comrade and earnest
co-laborer, Mr. John L. Dailey, who seconded and sustained these efforts,
and bore no insignificant part in the work accomplished. He entered
the firm in 1859, taking charge of the business department, and con-
tinuing in that responsible position until a short time before Mr. Byers
sold out, frequently, in the meantime, contributing to the columns of
the paper. In his public and private life, in the admirable equanimity
of his temper, his innate goodness of heart, his strong sense of justice
and the uncompromising uprightness of his dealings, Mr. Dailey comes
very near realizing our highest ideal of a perfect man. Any person
who has passed through the stormy inceptive stages of a Territory like
ours, holding a continuous residence of thirty years without provoking
hostile criticism, and has stood as a model of his kind, enjoying uni-
versal respect and boundless confidence, has certainly lived his life
worthily before God and man, — therefore deserves a niche in the history
of his country, even though he may not have achieved political or other
eminence by which our great men are distinguished. These excel-
lencies of character had something to do in shaping the course of the
great newspaper. He was to Mr. Byers a strong and companionable
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 483
assistant, always true, safe, self-reliant and efficient, an important feature
of the internal organism of a journal that exercised much influence in the
land ; the force which supervised the details and kept things in working
order, like a skillful engineer whose hand directs the intricate machinery
of a great power. In the various public trusts to which he has been
called, he has met to the fullest degree the confidence reposed in him,
and when named for them it has been accepted as the nomination of
one who would discharge the duties with scrupulous fidelity.
On the i6th of July, 1878, the "News" was sold to W. A. H.
Loveland, and thereby passed from Republican to Democratic control.
Cooper, Vickers and Thomas were superseded by Mr. Loveland as
proprietor, Captain James T. Smith as editor, and M. J. Gavisk, city
editor. The Rocky Mountain News Printing company was then
reorganized as follows :
President.— W . A. H. Loveland.
Vtce-PresidenL — James T. Smith.
Secretary and Treasurer. — William F. Robinson.
Attorney. — James F. Welborn.
No event of the day excited so much comment as this. To the
Republican politicians who had followed it as leader and guide through
so many years, it seemed as if the foundations of the city had been
pulled out, a general metamorphosis created. Falling as it did on the
eve of the State campaign, and of the convention of the Democratic
party, it acquired important significance, since it heralded the acqui-
sition of a new lever of power for the advancement of that party, and
indicated a more vigorous and a more successful issue in the coming
election.
The Democrats met at Pueblo on the 17th of July, by the call of
Hon. Hugh Butler, Chairman of their Central Committee. M. B.
Gerry was elected Chairman and J. D. Henry, Secretary. It was
apparent from the beginning that Mr. Loveland would be the nominee
for Governor, and T. M. Patterson for Representative in Congress,
484 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
without division. Many ambitious politicians from Leadville attended,
to assert their claims to a share of the nominations.
The following ticket was produced :
For Representative in Congress. — Thos. M. Patterson of Arapahoe.
For Governor. — Wm. A. H. Loveland of Jefferson.
For Lieutenant Governor. — Thomas I. Field of Conejos.
For Secretary of State. — John S. Wheeler of Weld.
For Treasurer of State. — Nelson Hallock of Lake.
For Auditor of State. — John H. Harrison of Fremont.
For Attornev Genera/. — C. Yeaman of Las Animas.
For Superintendent of Public Instruction. — O. J. Goldrick of
Arapahoe.
For Regent of State University.— ]\\mw% Berkley of Boulder.
For Chairman of State Central Committee. — Harley B. Morse of
Gilpin.
The political complexion of the " News" having been changed, the
"Tribune" became the principal organ of the Republicans. On the
1st of June the author of this history assumed editorial control of the
"Evening Times,'' under R. W. Woodbury, its proprietor. July 22d
following, Mr. W. B. Vickers succeeded Major Henry Ward as editor
of the " Tribune," thus effecting a general change of writers on the chief
papers of the city at the outset of the campaign of 1878.
The action of the Republican convention in 1876, whereby the candi-
dates for Representative in Congress, Governor, and for a majority of
the State offices were selected from the northern division, and the sub-
sequent election of both Senators from the same section by the General
Assembly, gave rise to great dissatisfaction in the south, — notwithstand-
ing the fact that the result was accomplished through the inability of the
delegates from that section to agree, — when certain self-proclaimed repre-
sentatives of the people, early in 1877, boisterously declared, that, inas-
much as the honors had not been fairly distributed, the State should be
divided and a new government established upon the precedent which
caused the division of the State of Virginia during the war of the
HISTORY OF COLORADO 485
Rebellion. This declaration, although advanced by a small coterie of
disappointed place seekers, developed, by constant iteration through the
public journals, pronounced and aggressive antagonism to the State
government as then constituted, taking the form of vicious attacks upon
the selfishness and domineering spirit of the north. Until recent years
there had been a marked disparity of material growth in the region
south of the divide, its rival having outstripped it in railway and other
improvements, in the extension of agriculture, mining and general
progressiveness. It controlled also the political patronage, State and
Federal, which was seen to be the most serious grievance com-
plained of. Early in 1877 the feelings of jealousy began to find ex-
pression in a demand for separation, and the organization of a new
Territory or State, to embrace all the region south of the natural
divide, to be called the Territory, or State of "San Juan." While the
people at large were far too sensible and loyal to accept this revolu-
tionary method of adjusting their political differences, many acquiesced
and encouraged the proposition, with a view to forcing the politicians of
Denver into conceding to them one Senator, the Governorship, and an
equal share of the other important offices in the next nominating con-
vention. Acting upon this ulterior purpose, the controversy grew quite
animated as it came to be comprehended to what use the agitation could
be put toward forwarding the design. The Del Norte correspondents, to
whom the discussion was mainly confined, proposed to make that place,
then a town of about two thousand inhabitants, the capital of the new
State, and urged the people of Southern Colorado to set aside all other
differences, and unite en masse in a movement for secession. They
were urged to hold meetings in every town, elect delegates who should
assemble at some central point, and there frame, adopt and sign a
memorial to Congress petitioning that body for a division of the State,
with certain boundaries, including a portion of New Mexico. Pueblo,
though by no means averse to the underlying object of punishing
Denver for its arrogant assumption of superiority, ready to foster any
scheme, however impracticable, which had that for its main intention,
486 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
rebelled against the proposed seat of government. If the south
seceded, Pueblo, and not the little upstart town at the base of the San
Juan Mountains, should be the center and directing head, and unless
this were conceded, there would be no secession. However, the bellig-
erent fulminations continued, but the instigator rather overshot the
mark by suggesting as one of the strongest clauses to be inserted in
the memorial to be sent down to a radical Congress, the fact that the
southern half of Colorado had been settled by people from the late
Confederacy, while the north had been peopled by Yankees, and since
these radically diverse elements could not be successfully assimilated,
an insurmountable fence should be built between them.
Notwithstanding the absurdity of the proposition it gained some
adherents, whereupon, Mr. W. B. Felton, editor of the Saguache
" Chronicle, " a man given to thoughtful consideration of public
questions, and loyal to the State as it stood, when the agitation had
proceeded far enough to indicate its effect, published a well digested
leader, denouncing the enterprise as unnecessary, visionary and chi-
merical. He knew of none except the correspondents, who favored a
division. As to the claim set up that the people from Manitou to the
Raton Range were enthusiastically favorable to the change, it was
simply a preposterous fabrication. Nevertheless, the communications
multiplied until July 4th, 1877, when the scheme was ridiculed out of
existence by an exceedingly clever burlesque procession devised by E.
K. Stimson and a party of humorists, who proclaimed the division as an
accomplished fact, and that the Governor elect of the new State of San
Juan (Stimson) would make his triumphal entry into the capital
(Pueblo) at the head of all the people on that day, and be there
crowned, inducted, installed and invested with the insignia of rulership,
with bewildering pageantry and unheard of ceremonies. Stimson's in-
augural, comprising an original Declaration of Independence, and
bristling with pungent recommendations for the government of the new
commonwealth, being published and scattered through all the southern
counties, immediately routed the seceders horse, foot and dragoons, and
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 487
no more was heard of them. Two days later the business portion of
Del Norte was almost entirely destroyed by fire, and with the devouring
flames disappeared the last vestige of this formidable (?) uprising.
Senseless and extravagant as the movement was, it was not wholly
barren of important results, since it brought forward in 1878 a distin-
guished man for the chief magistracy. In February of that year the
name of Frederick W. Pitkin, a resident of Ouray, was suggested from
that quarter as the choice of the southern division. It was taken
up and constantly advocated by the press of the San Juan country,
earnestly seconded by Pueblo, Colorado Springs and the entire southern
tier of counties. They had found a candidate, eminently worthy of
being presented for the suffrages of all the people. The Republicans of
the north, mindful of the importance of conciliating the southern
element of their party, instantly acquiesced, though Mr. Pitkin was a
total stranger to them, he having been a resident of the State but three
or four years, and during that time scarcely known outside of Pueblo
and Ouray.
The Republican State Convention met in Denver, August 7th,
1878, J. P. Maxwell of Boulder, presiding, W. H. Bush of Gilpin acting
as Secretary. The following ticket was nominated :
For Representative in Congress. — James B. Belford.
For Governor. — Frederick W. Pitkin of Ouray.
For Lieutenant Governor. — Horace A. W. Tabor of Lake.
For Secretary of State. — Norman H. Meldrum of Larimer.
For Auditor of State. — Eugene K. Stimson of Pueblo.
For Treasurer of State. — Nathan S. Culver of El Paso.
For Attorney General. — Charles W. Wright of Arapahoe.
For Supcrintcndcjit of Public Instruction. — Joseph C. Shattuck of
Weld.
For Regent of State University. — Horace M. Hale of Gilpin.
For Chairman of the State Central Committee. — Wm. A. Hamill
of Clear Creek.
488 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
On both sides the principal interest centered in the nominees for
Governor and Congress, — Pitkin against Loveland, Belford vs. Pat-
terson. On the 14th of August, a third party known as "Greenbackers"
entered the field with the following candidates :
For Governor. — Dr. R. G. Buckingham of Arapahoe.
For Lieutenant Governor. — P. A. Simmons of Hinsdale.
For Seeretary of State. — J. E. Washburne of Larimer.
For Auditor of State. — Charles O. Unfug of Huerfano.
For Treasurer of State. — W. D. Arnett of JefYerson.
For Attorney General. — Alpheus Wright of Boulder.
For Chairman of State Central Committee. — D. B. Harris of
Clear Creek.
At the election held October 2d Belford was elected to Congress,
and this time took his seat without a contest. All the candidates of
the Republican party were chosen and inaugurated In January, 1879.
Governor Pitkin was a native of Manchester, Connecticut, born in 1837.
He was graduated at the Wesleyan University in MiddletoAvn, Con-
necticut, and subsequently at the law school in Albany, New York, in
1858, whence he moved to Milwaukee, Wis., and there began the
practice of his chosen profession, acquiring much distinction for his
ability and the thoroughness of his work. In 1872 his health became
so seriously Impaired as to necessitate a change. He went to Minne-
sota, but failing to recuperate there, or In any other of the Eastern or
Southern States, he was taken to Switzerland. After repeated attempts
to discover in foreign lands a beneficial climate, he came to Colorado,
where he improved rapidly, but never mastered the Insidious germs of
pulmonary disease. He was a lawyer of superior attainments, an
effective speaker, and sturdily honest in every detail of his public and
private life. He was re-elected in iSSo, and at the expiration of his
second term took up his residence in Pueblo. Both terms were filled
with exciting incidents, which will appear as we proceed.
Senator Chaffee had been for some months suffering acutely from
111 health, contracted durine the exciting strugrorle for the admission of
^2c2,^;.„^
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 489
the State during the Forty-third Congress, and in the spring of 1878
his nearest friends began to apprehend a fatal termination. J. C.
Wilson had resigned the chairmanship of the Republican committee
to accept the Collectorship of Internal Revenue for the District of Col-
orado, and Capt. W. H. Pierce had been appointed in his place.
While it was understood that Mr. Chaffee would not be able to direct
the campaign of his party in '78, he was still its leader. On the 30th
of May he wrote from New York to Chairman Pierce, stating the con-
dition of his health, declining to be a candidate for re-election to the
Senate, and announcing his withdrawal, for the reason given, from
further active participation in the politics of Colorado.
This letter superinduced a new phase of afTairs. The managers
were filled with amazement by this sudden and wholly unexpected blow,
which deprived the party of its champion. They awoke to the con-
sciousness that the party was without a directing hand, and they sought
in vain for a successor possessing the requisite power of leadership.
They had been so long accustomed to relying upon his strength, to
moving in harmony with his superior judgment, to leaving the organ-
ization and management of campaigns to his tried and true sagacity, it
now seemed as if they could not proceed without him. Naturally
enough, the Democrats rejoiced over the event, as it removed, as they
believed, the chief obstacle in the way of their success.
Efforts were made to induce a recall of his decision, but without
effect. In casting about for a leader competent to take up the work
which Mr. Chaffee had surrendered, and fit to succeed him in the
Senate, the majority finally settled upon Professor Nathaniel P. Hill,
manager of the Boston & Colorado Smelting company, a gentleman
who had been an active worker in the party, possessed great wealth,
scholarly attainments of the highest order, and was disposed to accept
the tender, if made with assurances of cordial support. Desirous of
ascertaining Mr. Chaffee's opinion of the step and of securing his
co-operation and indorsement, Mr. Hill wrote him a candid statement
of the case, and awaited his reply before taking definite action.
490 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
On the 8th of July the answer came, expressing the hope that Mr.
Hill would be a candidate for Senator, but that he (Chaffee) could
not, owing to feeble health, promise him any personal aid, as he would
not be in Colorado during the canvass. He had no doubt of the
success of his party, but understood there would be several candidates
from the South, though it was doubtful if the party would be able to
unite upon any person from that quarter. Said he, " The office of
United States Senator is a very high position, but I would not accept
it for life. If offered. I would be greatly pleased to see you in that
position, for personal reasons and for public reasons." After defining
his plans for the future should his health be restored, he adds, — " I
think a great many of my friends will be yours if you are a candidate,
probably a large majority of them. I duly appreciate your friend-
ship to me in the past, and hope you may succeed m whatever you
undertake."
Upon these assurances Mr. Hill became a candidate for election to
the United States Senate, and in that behalf heartily supported the
ticket nominated in August, contributing largely of his ample means
toward the expenses of the canvass.
About the last of December, and just prior to the meeting
of the General Assembly, in which the Republicans had a con-
siderable majority, it came to be reported that Mr. Chaffee, having
recovered his health and recuperated his fortunes by profitable in-
vestments in the Leadville mines, would stand for re-election to
the Senate, notwithstanding his oft-repeated declaration that he would
not accept the position if offered. It was seen of all men that,
after his emphatic declination of May 30th, and his subsequent
letter to Mr. Hill, he could not, with honor, re-enter the field.
Furthermore, he had revisited Colorado in the meantime, and while
here advised his friends to support Mr. Hill, as he (Chaffee) could
not under any circumstances permit his name to be used. But
it so happened that some of his more ardent friends, who would
rather have been represented in the Senate by Chaffee's hat and
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 491
overshoes than by any man whose name had been brought forward,
persisted in their determination to elect him anyhow, regardless of
protests, and in defiance of his personal remonstrances. It not only
placed Mr. Chaffee in a very embarrassing position, but divided his
friends, arraying them against each other in deep hostility. The
majority of his admirers, who would under other conditions have been
only too glad to honor him with a seat in the Senate so long as it might
please him to retain it, should their party hold its political supremacy
in the State, acting upon his letter, supplemented by his personally
expressed desires, had pledged themselves to Mr. Hill, and felt in honor
bound to sustain his cause. They comprehended fully that any other
course would place him and them in a false and untenable position.
In May, 1878, Prof. Hill having purchased an eligible site for his
smelting works, began erecting a large and complete new plant thereon.
He had moved his family from Black Hawk to Denver, and was thence-
forward to be a resident of that city.
The " Tribune" and "Times" earnestly advocated his cause before
the people, and were seconded by a majority of the Republican papers
in the northern division of the State.
The legislature convened in Walhalla Hall, at the corner of Curtis
and Sixteenth streets, January ist, 1S79, and after organizing and
effecting the preliminary work, such as inaugurating the Governor elect,
counting the votes for State officers, etc., began actively to canvass the
candidates for the United States Senate. A majority of the Republican
side were unqualifiedly favorable to Mr. Hill. The minority being from
the southern districts, had candidates from that section which, for a time,
divided the vote. Mr. W. A. Hamill, chairman of the State Central
committee, a leading politician and one of the ablest managers in the
party, stated that Mr. Chaffee still persisted in holding to his letter of
declination. There was but one condition under which he could be
induced to permit the use of his name, — an absolute failure of his party
to agree upon any other candidate, a contingency so remote it could not
be anticipated.
492 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
The Senate organized by the election of Hon. James P. Maxwell of
Boulder, a superb parliamentarian, as its presiding officer pro tempore,
while the House chose Rienzi Streeter of Longmont for its speaker.
The candidates named for the office of Senator were N. P. Hill, Thomas
M. Bowen of Rio Grande, John L. Routt, H. A. W. Tabor, William A.
Hamill of Clear Creek, W. S. Jackson of El Paso, George M. Chllcott
and Henry C. Thatcher of Pueblo. E.x-Governor John Evans also was
named as one of the possibilities.
The Democrats found no difficulty in reaching a conclusion. They
met in caucus and named Hon. W. A. H. Loveland, and when the day
for balloting arrived, cast all their votes for him. After much prelim-
inary caucusing and skirmishing, on the 9th the Republicans held a
caucus and on the fourth ballot nominated Nathaniel P. Hill. This
result was brought about by the constant efforts of his strong combination
of powerful friends, W. A. Hamill, Henry R. and Edward O. Wolcott,
Charles H. Toll, James P. Maxwell, W. D. Todd, M. Spangler, Col.
L. C. Ellsworth, Clinton M. Tyler, and others, who wrought unremit-
tingly in his cause.
It- may be said that no man in Colorado has entered upon a public
career with more or stronger friends than Mr. Hill. They comprised
the greater part of the sturdy forces that had surrounded Mr. Chaffee
and insured his triumphs. They were disposed to stand lay and support
his successor. It was expected, therefore, that a career which had been
so auspiciously inaugurated would endure through as many years as it
should please him to occupy the great position to which he had been
elevated. But it was not long before irreconcilable antagonisms arose
between the friends of Chaffee and Teller on the one side, and those
of Hill on the other. Strife and contentions succeeded here and at
Washington, over the control of federal patronage ; jealousies and
bickerings provoked and aggravated a conflict that has continued to the
present time.
During his single term in the Senate, Mr. Hill gave much con-
siderate attention to the financial problems of the country, and in due
f/U^'^-./l
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 493
time produced a clear and profound analysis of the much debated silver
question, then and now a matter of vital interest to our industrial pop-
ulation. He delivered a number of well digested speeches on this
question to the Senate, and in New England cities the seat of opposition
to the full remonetization of the white metal ; wrote strong papers on
the subject for the " North American Review," and by the force and
subtlety of his arguments attracted extraordinary attention to it
throughout the country, and thereby came to be recognized as the
leading exponent of the cause of remonetization and free coinage. From
that time to the close of 1889, though the subject has taken deep hold
upon the people of the West and South, and has gained many converts
in the Atlantic States, no steps of consequence have been taken by
Congress looking to the restoration of silver as a standard of value in
our monetary affairs. But there is no doubt that the facts he presented,
embracing the history of the use of silver as money among the nations,
and the peril of forcing it out of our circulation, had much to do with
staying the tide of opposition to the continuance of coinage under the
Bland Bill, by furnishing the advocates of silver with unanswerable
reasons for their faith.
During his entire term of six years. Senator Hill devoted himself
actively to needed legislation for his State, and to securing important
concessions from the several departments. His residence became a
conspicuous social center, the entertainments there given to Senators,
Representatives, ofificers of the government and the diplomatic corps,
being among the most brilliant of the period.
494 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Indian affairs — some reflections on the attitude of the government
TOWARD its wards VIOLATIONS OF TREATIES FATHER MEEKER's ATTEMPT
TO CIVILIZE THE UTES, AND ITS TRAGIC ENDING — THE MASSACRE OF THORNBURG
AND HIS MEN ARRIVAL OF GEN. MERRITT MASSACRE OF MEEKER AND HIS
EMPLOYES THE WOMEN CARRIED INTO CAPTIVITY THEIR RESCUE BY OURAY
AND GEN. ADAMS THE INVESTIGATION SKETCH OF THE GREAT CHIEF OURAY
HIS LIFE AND C H AR ACTER^CHIEF, STATESMAN AND DIPLOMAT.
Governor Pitkin had scarcely been installed in the executive
office before he was confronted by the most extensive outbreak among
the Ute Indians that has ever marked our connection with that tribe.
Like most difficulties with this and other Indian nations, it was directly
ascribable to the neglect and indifference of the Indian Bureau at
Washington. The government may have faithfully observed its part of
the conditions of some treaties negotiated with its savage wards, but it
has violated more than it has kept. Nearly all treaties provide certain
appropriations to be expended for annuities, as stipulated in the nego-
tiations. The savage, ignorant of the forms of business, and especially
of the intricate and mysterious forms employed by the government, is
easily cheated, but he never forgets the promise of annuities. The
Indian Bureau has been for nearly a century the center of transactions
that will not bear rigid scrutiny. Governor McCook was right in
declaring it to be stronger than the government itself, and some of its
ways are past finding out. John Lothrop Motley wrote, that the history
of Europe can never be written until the secrets of the Vatican are
exposed. It may be said also that the history of the dealings of our
government with its copper-colored wards, will never be known until
the secrets of the Indian Bureau are brought to light.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 495
While the march of civilization has driven the Indian back, rolled
over and crushed him ; while conflicts between the races have been
bloody and cruel as all wars must be, for as General Sherman puts it,
war is cruelty and you cannot refine it, it is none the less true that the
attitude of the government itself toward the peoples with whom it has
mistakenly treated as distinct nations, has resulted in the spoliation
of their lands and scandalous negligence of treaty obligations. To
neglect and pillage may be traced nearly all the uprisings, and most of
the more destructive wars.
The horrible massacre at White River, in 1S79, sprang out of the
causes just mentioned. When Ouray's band was located on the
Uncompahgre and that of Chief Douglass on White River by the treaty
of 1868, and when by subsequent negotiations in 1874 the San Juan
mining region was surrendered, it was provided that each band should
receive certain annuities of money and goods. A large warehouse for
the storage of Indian supplies was established at Rawlins, Wyoming,
and the consignments sent there. If there is any one season of the
year to which the savage to whom the government is indebted by treaty
looks forward with more eagerness than another, it is that in which he
is to be presented with blankets, provisions, trinkets and gewgaws,
and there is no one thing in which he has been more frequently disap-
pointed. On the occasion under consideration, the time for the dis-
tribution of the annuities to the White River Utes had passed, and
though frequently urged to haste, the Bureau at Washington calmly
ignored the whole business. The Indians complained to the agent, and
he to the Governor, and he in turn to the department, but in vain.
Meanwhile, the Indians went hungry and naked. As time passed they
grew morose and ugl)-. Then they began to wander off the reservation
and make reprisals upon the settlers.
Early in 1878 Mr. N. C. Meeker, a venerable philanthropist from
the Atlantic humanitarian school, bred under the teachings of Horace
Greeley, was at his own urgent request, appointed agent for the White
River Utes. Thoroughly imbued with the idea of educating, refining
496 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
and christianizing these wild red rovers of the mountains, and longing
for an opportunity to put his well matured theories into effect ; con-
fident of his ability to bring about a complete transformation in the
lives and natures of those who had been placed under his direction, by
educating and teaching them to cultivate the soil, to live in houses and
adopt the ways of the Caucasian, he entered upon the work with
deeper enthusiasm perhaps, than upon any other undertaking of his life.
His ideals were splendid, eminently worthy of the man and the cause,
but he had to do with men and natures of which he knew very little,
whose instincts were savage and brutal ; whose only desire was to be
left wholly free to do as they pleased ; if they wanted anything, to take
it, and if it must be by force, so much the better, and who despised
every form of manual labor as intolerable degradation. Their highest
ambition was to hunt, kill and destroy, and their chiefest pleasure to
drink whisky and scalp isolated settlers. When Father Meeker under-
took to eradicate these natural instincts inherited from numberless gen-
erations, and implant civilization instead, he attempted an impossibility.
While it is true that some of the national schools for the education of
the children of the aborigines have made some progress, and are very
beneficent institutions, the instances are rare in which the savage
instinct to roam, fight, steal and plunder has been repressed, and when
those children are permitted to return to their tribes and grow up with
them, that they do not fall back into the primitive state of savagery.
The only way to civilize the offspring of the wild Indian is to separate
them from the tribes at once and forever, and by amalgamation with the
Caucasian the savage instinct will be in time, extirpated.
No man has entered upon a like mission with purer or loftier pur-
poses than Mr. Meeker. In attestation of his faith in the outcome, he
took with him his wife and youngest daughter, with a number of
employes from the Union colony, to aid the great work of regeneration
and redemption. Though kind and just, he was eminently methodical
in all his ways, withal obstinate and unyielding. The system employed
for the government of the agency and of the Indians, though well
'/^i^y^^^
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 497
intentioned, and all right and proper for the regulation of a colony of
white men, was not calculated to impress the natives with any extrav-
agant desire to place their necks under the yoke he held out to them.
He expected them to submit to a discipline which, could they have
been brought to it, would have been good for them, but without which
his theories and plans must assuredly fail. The Indians refused to
submit, and when urged, got mad, broke over the bounds, and, filled
with disgust, went out and harassed the settlers, stole their property
and fired the forests for miles around.
These proceedings aroused the country, and soon a stream of
petitions and letters went to the agent and the Governor, loudly
demanding that the Indians be kept on their reservation. The
rebellious Utes in turn demanded the delivery of their annuity goods,
and the removal of Meeker, because they could not get along with
him. All this time and in this ugly temper they were plotting deeper
mischief, and those who had knowledge of their feelings and move-
ments, predicted serious consequences.
About two months before the final outbreak,* in which many
lives were sacrificed and much property was destroyed, four chiefs,
headed by Capt. Jack, came to Denver for a conference with the Gov-
ernor, before whom they urged the removal of their agent, for reasons
already stated. He wanted them to work, they said, and they wouldn't
work. It was beneath the dignity of an Indian warrior to harden his
hands with toil. He wanted to educate them, and they didn't want to
be educated. He wanted them to build houses and live in them, but
they preferred the tepee and the open air. After a thorough exam-
ination the Governor comprehended what was coming, and immediately
advised the authorities at Washington that, unless measures were soon
taken to prevent an uprising, these Indians and their followers
would take the war path. The receipt of this communication was
acknowledged, action promised, and there the department rested, in the
* Material facts condensed from the account prepared by W. B. Vickers, private secretary to Governor
Pitkin, — History of Colorado, O. L. Baskin & Co., Chicago, 1880.
32 U
498 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
sublime consciousness of having performed its duty. Mr Meeker
wrote Pitkin that the Indians could not be kept on the reservation
without the aid of the regular army, and implored him to place the
true condition of affairs before the proper authorities. At length Gen.
John Pope sent a single company of colored cavalry to scout in Middle
Park. Now if there is anything on the face of the earth that an Indian
hates above another it is a negro, and especially a " nigger soldier."
Therefore, this movement, instead of quieting their hostility, merely
inflamed it. They kept out of the way of the troops, but watched them
from the neighboring hills, itching all the time for a good opportunity
to swoop down upon and massacre the entire body.
Matters were brought to a crisis shortly afterward. Major James
B. Thompson, who had been commissioned agent for the Utes during
McCook's administration, knew all the chiefs and most of their fol-
lowers by name, and had been just and good to them, at the expiration
of his term took up a ranch on Bear River in Middle Park, and built a
cabin thereon. During his temporary absence from home, two Utes
named Bennett and Chinaman, went there and burned the house.
Thompson appeared before Judge W. E. Beck of the First Judicial
district, and procured warrants for the arrest of these two Indians. The
writs were placed in the hands of Marshall Bessey, sheriff of Grand
County, who, with a small posse attempted to execute them, but after a
long and fruitless chase it had to be abandoned. The entire band knew
of the pursuit, had obstructed it as far as they could, and kept Bennett
and Chinaman advised of every movement. The posse visited Mr.
Meeker at the agency. He endeavored to aid them in discovering the
guilty parties, but unavailingly. This action added another cause of
complaint against him, and, moreover, he had had some trouble with
Johnson, a "medicine man," when the latter assaulted and seriously
injured him. The white men working in the fields were fired upon.
The very devil seemed to possess them, and it was evident they were
spoiling for a fight. They accused Meeker of writing lies about them
to the Denver papers, and of sending to the military posts for troops to
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 499
come and protect him against them. Jack was the actual leader of the
insubordinates. Having been raised by a Mormon family, he spoke
English with tolerable fluency, and while Douglass was the head chief,
he had no considerable following.
In talking with some of the white men who visited him that
summer, Mr. Meeker said : " I came to this agency in the full belief
that I could civilize the Utes, teach them to work and become self-sup-
porting ; that I could establish schools and interest both the Indians
and their children in learning. I have given my best efforts to that end,
always treating them kindly but firmly. They have eaten at my table,
and received continuous kindness from my wife and daughter, and all
the employes about the agency. Their complaints have been patiently
heard, and all reasonable requests granted, and now the man (Johnson)
for whom I have built the only Indian house on the reservation, and
who has frequently eaten at my table, has turned upon me without the
slightest provocation, and would have killed me, but for the white
laborers who got me away."
He was even then warned of an impending outbreak and implored
to leave the agency at once, as it was plain the Indians were plotting
his murder ; but he resisted on the ground that his duty kept him there ;
and he would send for troops and thus prevent further evils. In the
meantime, the representations made by Governor Pitkin reached Gen.
Sheridan, who, according to his custom in dealing with public enemies,
acted promptly. It was evident to all observers that Jack and his fol-
lowers meant to have Meeker removed and the annuity goods dis-
tributed, or go to war. They were armed with fine Winchester rifles,
and well supplied with ammunition. In pursuit of their aims they had
induced a large number of young bucks from the Uncompahgre agency
to join them.
By Sheridan's order, Major Thomas T. Thornburg, commanding
Fort Steele, Wyoming, took three companies of cavalry and one of
infantry and marched with all speed from Rawlins on the Union Pacific
railroad, across the country toward the reservation. While no Indians
500 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
were seen, they were on his trail, and watching every movement.
When arrived at Bear River, sixty-five miles from the agency, Jack,
accompanied by a few of his braves, appeared to him while in camp, and
after stating that they were out on a hunt (which was a lie), asked
Thornburg the destination and purpose of his expedition, and was told
that it was bound to White River. It is not known what transpired at
this interview, but at a later time Jack said Thornburg was insolent and
defiant, and he made up his mind to teach him a lesson. Nevertheless,
he proposed to escort Thornburg and five soldiers direct to the agency,
and there have a hearing of his grievances before agent Meeker. The
commander apprehending treachery, declined, and went on to his fate.
Jack measured up the full strength of the command, and laid his
plans accordingly. There was but one practicable route to White
River, and that lay through a narrow defile with high bluffs on either
side. There he posted his warriors and awaited the soldiers. When
the command reached Milk Creek, a tributary of the Bear, twenty-five
miles from the agency, and within the reservation, a large body of
Indians confronted it in line of battle, and evidently prepared to dispute
the passage. Thornburg seeing the death trap into which he had been
drawn, instantly made his preparations, but his orders not to attack the
Indians being positive, he formed a line of battle and awaited attack.
The Indians promptly flanked him, and with the customary war-whoop,
opened fire. His wagon train had been corraled about three-fourths of
a mile to the rear. The Indians by a quick movement threw themselves
between the troops and the train. Thornburg took twenty-five mounted
men and at their head made a furious charge. The savages killed him
and thirteen of his men, but the remainder succeeded in reaching the
wagons, whither their comrades had retreated. The Indians surrounded
and poured a galling fire upon them. Every officer except one, — Lieut.
Cherry of the Fifth Cavalry, — had been shot, and more than one
hundred and fifty mules killed.
After Thornburg's death, the command devolved upon Capt. Payne
of the Fifth Cavalry, who, though wounded, made the best disposition
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 501
possible under the circumstances, by digging entrenchments and using
the wagons and their contents for breastworks. To increase the horror
of their situation, the Indians set fire to the grass and sage brush, to
windward, which rolled dense clouds of smoke upon them. There being
no water at hand, the soldiers managed to keep the flames out of their
works by smothering them. The enemy, posted on the hlufis above,
picked off every man and animal to be seen. The troops could neither
advance nor retreat. Toward the close of this awful day, Jack ordered
a charge, in the hope of killing all the survivors in the pit, but was
gallantly repulsed, when he returned to the hills and resumed the old
tactics of picking them off in detail.
That night a heroic scout named Rankin, made his way on horse-
back out of the camp, and rode hard and fast toward Rawlins, one
hundred and sixty miles distant, to alarm the country and procure succor
for the beleaguered troops. That he lost no time is assured by the fact
that he covered the distance in twenty-eight hours. Other couriers were
dispatched in search of Capt. Dodge's troop of colored cavalry, then
supposed to be approaching from Middle Park. Luckily Dodge was
intercepted without much delay, and though hampered by a wagon
train, he abandoned it and galloped with all speed to the relief of his
comrades in their deadly peril. Fortunately his route was so wisely
chosen as to bring him to the entrenchments without detection by the
savages. On being informed of the state of affairs, he bravely vol-
unteered to storm the bluffs with his colored troops and drive out the
Indians, but Payne, knowing it would be certain death to him and all
his men, refused permission.
While the arrival of this reinforcement strengthened and encouraged
Payne and his little band, it was powerless to rescue them. The pass
could not be charged, and to fire at an unseen foe was a sheer waste of
ammunition. Meanwhile, Rankin had sent the startling intelligence of
Thornburg's defeat and death, and the terrible condition of the camp,
far and wide. Gen. Wesley Merritt, one of Sheridan's most successful
commanders, quickly collected a large force from different posts on the
502 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
railroad, and hastened to the scene, marching night and day. His com-
mand reached the encampment early Sunday morning, October 5th.
The troops he found there had been hemmed in and shot at almost
continually for six days. The stench from the decaying bodies of
animals was almost intolerable. The sufferings of the men can never be
described. It was a pitiful sight that met the eyes of this brave soldier
as he entered the entrenchments that bright Sunday morning.
After burying the dead, caring for the wounded and collecting
what could be saved from the wreck and ruin, he pushed on toward
the agency, the Indians having abandoned the fight and disappeared as
soon as his force came into view. Deeper horrors met them at White
River, where all the white men had been killed, the houses burned and
the women carried into captivity. Simultaneously with the attack on
Major Thornburg, Douglass, Persune and a few others who remained at
the agency to execute their part of the plot at that point, began their
devilish work. The body of Mr. Meeker was found about two hundred
yards from his house, with a log chain about his neck, one side of his
head mashed, and part of a barrel stave driven through his body. The
vengeance of the red fiends had taken its most diabolical form in his case,
the others being killed in the ordinary way. In addition to the massacre
they had stolen everything movable, packed the plunder upon ponies,
and fled the country. The bodies of all the other employes, nine. in
number, were found at various places in the neighborhood, all stripped,
and some of them mutilated.
The particulars of the attack upon the agency, the murder of the
men, the capture of the women and of their flight to Grand River, were
related by Miss Josephine Meeker, to her brother Ralph who met them
at Ouray's house on the Uncompahgre, took down the tragic story and
published it in the New York " Herald," from which it appears that
immediately after intelligence of the fighting at Milk Creek was
received, Douglass and twenty of his men came to the agency and
began firing upon the employes, which continued until all were killed.
The women, Miss Josephine, her mother, Mrs. Price, wife of the
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 503
agency blacksmith, and her httle girl three years old, ran to the milk-
house and shut themselves in. They heard the firing, but saw none of
the horrors of the general butchery. To force them out, the building
was fired. As the room filled with smoke they ran out into the fields,
but were soon captured.
The brutes having completed their bloody work, packed the goods
taken from the houses, upon ponies, and with their captives started for
one of their old haunts on Grand River. The Indians had plenty of
whisky, some of them were intoxicated, and all greatly excited. In
their drunken bravado they undertook to frighten the women by threat-
ening to shoot them, but as they preferred death to captivity and
evinced no sign of fear at these demonstrations, the red devils began to
admire and respect them for their courage. Meanwhile, the battle with
Thornburg's men raged in the canon. Their captors were apprised of
its progress from time to time by runners from the field. In the course
of their journey they were overtaken by a courier from Chief Ouray,
bearing an order to cease fighting. The news had been conveyed to
him by telegraph from Denver. The same order must have reached
Jack about the time of Gen. Merritt's arrival, for he immediately
abandoned the contest and fled to join Douglass.
While encamped on Grand River, a messenger arrived from the
Uncompahgre to inform them that next day Gen. Adams with some
others would come after the captives. Adams had some years previous
been appointed agent for the Utes at the recommendation of Gov-
ernor iNIcCook. He and Ouray were warm personal friends, and he
was much respected by all the tribes. When the facts of the massacre
reached Washington by wire, Adams was instructed to confer with
Ouray, and with him devise some plan for the rescue of the captive
women, and a final settlement of the difficulty. He was to co-operate
with Ouray, first in releasing the prisoners, and afterward in hunting
down the leaders of the outbreak. By a subsequent order, Adams,
Ouray and Gen. Hatch were constituted a commission to investigate
the entire tragedy. He left Denver on the 15th of October, and
504 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
arrived on the Uncompahgre three days later, where the rescue was
planned. On the 19th, with an escort of three Indian chiefs designated
by Ouray, — Sapovanero, Shawano, and a son of old Colorow, — and
attended by Count von Doenhoff, an attache of the German legation at
Washington, Capt. Cline and Mr. Sherman of the Las Pinas Agency,
and bearing peremptory orders from the head chief of all the Utes for
the immediate cessation of hostilities and the surrender of their pris-
oners, Adams started for Douglass' camp on Grand River. In due
time, after a long and trying journey, he arrived, presented his letters
and demanded the women. A council of war was held. The Indians
at first were not disposed to obey, and some of the younger bucks pro-
posed that they kill the white commissioners and go their own way in
spite of Ouray, but Sapovanero soon put an end to that kind of talk.
Though excited and unduly elated by their triumphs, they still had
lively recollections of what disobedience of Ouray's orders meant,
through many decisive lessons in the past. When Adams appeared in
their camp, they endeavored to conceal the captives, but Miss Meeker
broke out of the tepee in which she was confined, faced the commis-
sioners and informed them where her mother and Mrs. Price were.
At length Douglass agreed to deliver up the women on condition
that Adams would go on to White River and stop the further advance
of Merritt's avenging army. He accepted the situation and soon left
for that point. The captives were surrendered, and, under the pro-
tection of Capt. Cline and Sherman, were taken to Ouray's camp, where
they arrived three days later. The sturdy old chief and his noble
sympathetic wife, Chipeta, received them with open arms and did every-
thing in their power for their comfort. Says Miss Meeker, "We found
carpets on the floors, curtains at the windows, lamps on the tables,
stoves in the rooms, and fires burning. We were given a whole house
to ourselves." Chipeta shed tears over them, provided everything for
their comfort, and in a good motherly way ministered to their every
want. A few days later they were brought to Denver, and taken
thence to their old homes in Greeley.
CHIEF OURAY.
506 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
For nearly three months Merritt's troops remained in camp at the
agency, idly awaiting further orders and the final settlement. Mean-
while, Adams, Ouray and Hatch were taking testimony to establish the
cause of the outbreak and to discover the guilty leaders. It was a long,
tedious, and as the result proved, a fruitless endeavor. It terminated
in an offer on the part of the Indians to deliver up twelve of the
leaders, on condition that they be tried in Washington, and not in Col-
orado. Only one or two were ever captured, and none were punished,
though at least twenty should have been hanged. By an act of
Congress the White River Utes were subsequently moved to a reser-
vation in Utah, where they still remain. We shall meet them again at
a later epoch, while reviewing the administration of Governor Alva
Adams, in which another outbreak occurred.
The brief sketch subjoined, relating to the life and character of
the really great Chief Ouray, the recognized head, diplomat, statesman
and warrior of the Ute nation, is compiled from notes furnished by
Major James B. Thompson and Otto Mears, both of whom were inti-
mately acquainted with him, the latter for the last twenty years of his
well-spent life.
Ouray was born at Taos, New Me.xico, in 1833, his father being a
Tabeguache, or Western Ute, and his mother an Apache of the Jicarilla
tribe. His boyhood was passed among the better class of Mexican
rancheros, chiefly as a herder of sheep. He soon learned the Spanish
language, speaking it correctly, avoiding the Indian corruptions, and
preferring it to his native tongue. At the age of eighteen he joined the
band of Utes in which his father was a leader, then located in South-
western Colorado. From that time until about i860, his life was that of
a wild Indian, passing his time in visiting among neighboring friendly
tribes, hunting in the mountains and on the plains, varied by an occa-
sional battle with the hereditary enemies of his people, the Comanches,
Kiowas, Sioux, Cheyennes and Arapahoes, in which he acquired the
reputation of a courageous and skillful warrior. In 1859 he chose a
wife from among the Tabeguache maidens, named Chipeta, to whom he
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 507
was always devotedly attached, and who bore him a son. This child
was captured by the Kiowas in 1863, they having surprised a hunting
camp of Utes under Ouray's command, located near the present site
of Fort Lupton, on Platte River. The boy was never recovered, indeed,
never heard of afterward.
In the same year, during the administration of Governor Evans, a
treaty was negotiated with the Tabeguaches, extinguishing their title to
the mountain region of Colorado then settled, and to most of the San
Luis Valley. In the council which concluded this treaty, Ouray was a
prominent leader and speaker, attracting the attention of all by his quick
and intelligent comprehension of the terms proposed, and by his trans-
lation of the speeches of his people into Spanish, from which came the
English version through the government interpreter. In recognition of
his services on this occasion, the government commissioners designated
Ouray head chief of the Western Utes, and the act was duly ratified in
council by the Indians. In a short time he was recognized as the
leader of the entire nation.
Thenceforward to 1868 he led a quiet life, making his home in the
Uncompahgre Valley, where he had a fine ranch and large herds of
horses and sheep. In that year another treaty was concluded with the
"confederated Utes," setting apart as theirs forever, that part of the
Territory of Colorado bounded on the east by the 107th meridian, and
on the north by a line fifteen miles north of the 40th parallel. This
treaty was brought about chiefly through the personal efforts of Ouray,
who believed he was rendering his people great and valuable service by
obtaining the solemn guaranty of the general government to a solemn
observance of the compact. He inspired his followers with like faith
that the provisions of this treaty would be maintained, and that the
region thus designated for their sole use and occupancy for all time,
would not be disturbed. In exactly four years the miners and the stock-
growers invaded, settled upon and proposed to hold the southern part of
this reservation, and then came the premonitory warnings of conflict
508 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
through the occupation of the San Juan country by prospectors and
miners, the cowboys and their long horned cattle.
To effect a peaceful settlement of the constantly recurring disputes
between the whites and the Indians, the authorities at Washington
ordered a council to be held in August, 1872, at Las Pinas agency, for
the purpose of inducing the Utes to cede this portion of their lands. It
was on this occasion (noted in a previous chapter) that Ouray evinced
his greatest power as the head and defender of his people, against the
arguments and persuasions of the government commissioners. His
keen mind analyzed, dissected and shattered every proposition advanced
by them. He listened calmly and with dignified attention to all they
had to say, then rose, and with rare eloquence and power demolished
ever}' detail of their carefully arranged programme, putting them to
shame by exposing the violation of their pledges, the injustice and wrong
of their attempt to nullify a contract which had been deliberately framed,
signed, agreed to and ratified by the Senate of the United States. The
commissioners, worsted and humiliated, their mission an absolute failure,
fell back on Washington "in anything but good order."
The following year another effort was made by Felix Brunot, when,
after obtaining some modifications, Ouray accepted the inevitable and
procured the assent of his followers to the sacrifice of the mining region.
Says Major Thompson, "But for his influence on both occasions, there
is no doubt that the Utes would have plunged into war and massacred
all the white inhabitants of that country."
By the terms of this treaty, the annuities of the Utes were increased,
and Ouray allowed a salary of one thousand dollars a year by the gov-
ernment. He then took up his residence at the Las Pinas agency,
where he had a comfortable and well furnished house, in which he
received and entertained his white guests, and where his days were
passed in peace and contentment until that terrible day in October, 1879,
when Agent Meeker and his employes were massacred, the women
carried into captivity, the agency buildings burned, and Thornburg's
troops defeated.
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 509
During the wild excitement attending these tragic events, Ouray
was by some severely censured for his failure to prevent the outbreak,
but without adequate comprehension of the facts. The subsequent inves-
tigation proved that he had no idea the White River band would resort
to murder, or that they would attack the troops. The then Secretary of
the Interior, Carl Schurz, had been in Denver only a short time before
the massacre, and assured the agents and others that there would be no
trouble at White River, as he came to inspect the various agencies, and
would see that all differences were adjusted, etc., etc. As usual when
any trouble occurred between the whites and the Utes, Ouray promptly
evinced his desire for peace. Immediately on receiving intelligence of
affairs on White River, he sent by his swiftest runners and most trusted
messengers, positive orders to Douglas Jack, and their followers to
refrain from further hostilities, and at once made arrangements for the
rescue of the captive women. While great credit has been accorded
Gen. Adams for the part he took in that affair, and with much justice, it
is nevertheless true that no power on earth save that exercised by Ouray
could have brought back those women alive, and without the safeguard
of his orders borne by his messenger Sap-inero, the lives of Adams and
his white attendants would undoubtedly have paid the penalty of their
temerity.
When the old chief received the particulars of this outbreak, he at
once saw that the days of his people were numbered, and his once
cheerful face seldom thereafter wore a smile. Throughout the long and
trying investigation he bore himself with melancholy dignity and for-
bearance, repressing the war spirit of his fiery warriors, and answering
the taunts of his white censors with stinging comments upon the
wretched and wholly indefensible policy of the government in its admin-
istration of Indian affairs, only seeking to avoid bloodshed in the future.
To this end he strongly advocated the removal of his people from Colo-
rado, and when this was decided upon he was ready to die.
He did not live to witness the full accomplishment of this design,
but while the details of the removal were in progress, he was taken very
510 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
ill and died at the Southern agency in 1881 from Bright's disease of the
kidneys. His life might perhaps have been materially prolonged had
it not been for the absurd treatment practiced upon him by the Indian
"Medicine Men," who dosed him with opiates until he became insensible,
and then attempted to exorcise the evil spirits which they said were tor-
menting him, by vigorous pounding and copious bleeding and sweating
of their illustrious patient.
Thus passed away an Indian who richly merits the grateful consid-
eration of the white people of Colorado. In person, Ouray was of the
almost invariable short stature which distinguished his people from
those of the plains tribes. He stood about five feet seven inches high,
and became quite portly in the later years. His head was strikingly
large, and well shaped, with regular features, and bearing an expression
of great dignity in repose, but lighting up pleasantly in conversation. In
his ordinary bearing his manner was courtly and gentle, and he was
extremely fond of meeting and conversing with cultivated white men,
with whom he was a genial companion, compelling their respect and
favor by the broad enlightenment of his views. In his habits he was a
model ; never using tobacco, abhorring whisky, and only taking a sip of
wine when in company of those who were indulging, and then only as a
matter of courtesy to them. He never swore nor used obscene or
vulgar language, was a firm believer in the Christian religion, and about
two years before his death united with the Methodist Church. His
name, Ouray, or more properly U-re, was simply a pet name given by
his father, and, so far as he knew, had no particular significance.
During the early days of white immigration and settlement, Ouray
and Kit Carson together averted a general war between his people and
the settlers. Kaneache, chief of the Muache Utes, inaugurated hos-
tilities on the Rio Las Animas, and was pursued and briefly engaged
by United States troops. Kaneache sent a proposition to Ouray to
join him in making war upon the settlers. The latter promptly seized
the messenger and sent out trusty runners to warn the people on the
Huerfano of the contemplated raid. Those who heeded the warning
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 511
escaped violence, but those who did not were slain. Ouray moved his
camp to Fort Garland, in order to control his own forces, and there
awaited Kaneache. When the latter approached the San Luis Valley,
Ouray marched out, and, taking him and his band prisoners, compelled
them to enter the fort and stay there. Had he been less conscientious
and prompt, more bloody work would have been done in Southern
Colorado.
When in active command of his men his word was law, and diso-
bedience death. In the autumn of 1874, at Bijou, while returning from
Denver to their camp in the South, one of his men desiring to build a
fire, started to cut some wood for that purpose within the inclosure of
a white settler. Ouray discovering his intention, ordered him back,
reminding him that they must not trespass upon the property of white
men. The obstinate Ute replied that he must have firewood, and he
would cut it anyway. Ouray answered that if he did he would kill
him, whereat the other fellow observed that two could play at that
game. Instantly both started for their guns, reaching them about the
same time, but Ouray was quicker than his adversary, and promptly
shot him.
On another occasion he shot and broke the arm of Johnson, a
member of his tribe, who afterward caused much of the trouble at
White River Agency. Johnson was given to gambling, horse racing,
lying and trickery of all kinds. In the present case he had stolen some
horses from white men and refused to return them when commanded,
thereby in Ouray's opinion, bringing disgrace upon the Ute nation, for
which he ought to be punished.
The foregoing incidents serve to illustrate the sterling honesty and
the general character of this remarkable chief, the statesman of his
nation, and the only man worthy of that high distinction in the history
of that people. Though a warrior of renown, brave to rashness in
battle against the natural enemy, he comprehended that the Caucasian
had come to stay and to overspread the land ; that resistance would be
useless, and only result in the extermination of the red men.
512 HISTORY OF COLORADO.
He realized and invariably acted upon the policy that more could be
accomplished by diplomacy than by war, and his stately bearing in the
various councils proved him to be one of the shrewdest and most intelli-
gent negotiators on the frontier. Whether he loved the white race or
not, he always, when it was possible to do so, protected them against the
incursions and depredations of strolling bands. Because irresponsible
desperadoes committed offences against his followers, he did not, like all
his contemporaries, condemn the entire race and proceed to massacre
every white person in his path, but adjusted the difficulty in a rational,
judicious way by peaceful measures. The nature of the Ute is much
like that of the wild Apache — bloodthirsty and cruel. There have
been many occasions when the strong, restraining hand of Ouray has
prevented his people from taking the war path in force against the
isolated settlers in the mountain regions. In looking back over the
past it is a matter for wonder that we escaped with so few murders,
depredations and outbreaks, when the causes and opportunities were so
numerous.
Of recent years so much has been published relating to " Old
Colorow," and especially in connection with the Thornburg massacre
and the later events on White River in 1888, he has been mistakenly
elevated to undeserved prominence as a chief and leader. As a
matter of fact, Colorow was in no sense entitled to the distinction
accorded him. He was enormously fat and bulky, simply a big, blus-
tering coward, who never distinguished himself in any battle, and whose
chief glory lay in relating monstrous fictions of his prowess, and in
frightening women and children at the lonely ranches met with in his
wanderings. Though with the forces which massacred Thornburg and
his troops, there is no evidence that he took any part in directing them,
or that he exposed himself to any danger. He never had any following
except old men, children and squaws, and at best only a few of these.
In the early administrations of the Territorial government, when the
Executives were superintendents also of Indian affairs, and when the
different tribes of Utes came frequently to Denver on trading and
HISTORY OF COLORADO. 513
begging expeditions, Colorow lounged about the Governor's office
demanding food, blankets, guns and the like, and constantly airing his
grievances. Hence he soon came to be regarded as an unmitigated
nuisance. He was viciously hostile to Governor Cummings, with
whom he quarreled at every visit, and for whose parsimony in dealing
with the Indians, more particularly himself, he expressed the greatest
contempt. Having occasion to call on the Governor at his office one
morning in 1866, I found Colorow there, and, as usual, in a passionate
mood, that soon developed a stormy scene, in the midst of which he
seized the Governor and hurled him across the room with such force
that he struck the wall with considerable violence. He had numerous
animated disputes with Governor McCook also, and on one occasion
was driven out of the office and ignominiously kicked down stairs.
The latter Executive, a large and powerful man, was physically capable
of treating the old rascal as he deserved, while Governor Cummings, of
rather frail physique, was not, therefore was compelled to endure the
insult. There is nothing in the life and character of this Indian to
denote intelligence, honesty, courage or decency. On the contrary, we
can only remember him as one of the meanest and most despicable of
his race, almost without a redeeming trait, and there we leave him.
APPENDIX.
GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.
MESSAGE OF GOVERNOR R. W. STEELE, DELIVERED TO THE PROVISIONAL LEGISLATURE
NOVEMBER 7, 1859.
Gentlemen of the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of yefferson :
It becomes my duty as the chief executive officer for the newly organized Pro-
visional Government of this Territory, to make at this time such recommendations and
suggestions to your honorable bodies as I may deem proper to secure the well being
and prosperity of our adopted country, which from unmistakable indications is soon to
grow into an important State.
I am deeply impressed with the importance of this task, as also with the peculiarity
of the position which all the officers of this government occupy, and before proceeding
to recommend for your action subjects of legislation, it will perhaps be proper to give
you a short historical view of the community which has resolved to use the inherent
right of self-government recognized as inalienable in American citizens, and to give at
least the prominent reasons for the steps which have been taken in the formation of a
Provisional Government. In doing this, I am actuated not so much by a desire to
convey information to your honorable bodies, as by the wish to have our situation and
motives as a community and a body politic fairly understood and appreciated by our
fellow citizens of the United States, and by Congress, that no misunderstanding may
arise to embarrass the future affairs of the Territory.
Prior to the summer of 1858, the region now known as the Territory of Jefferson,
possessed in the public estimation no superior attractions for the pioneer settler over
other portions of the public domain in the possession of the aboriginal tribes. During
that season, certain adventurous spirits, led on by a desire to prove or disprove the
various rumors of rich mineral deposits, which had been in circulation, of the unexplored
regions at the base of the Rocky Mountains, prospected the eastern slope from Fort
Laramie to the Spanish Peaks in New Mexico, and they gave to the world as the result
of their explorations, accounts of their finding gold in nearly all of the mountain streams
and in the foot plains at their base. Their report spread rapidly, and ere the beginning
of the winter of 1858 and '59, near one thousand persons had made their way to the
(515)
616 APPENDIX.
scenes of these explorations, and were busy in prospecting and preparing shelter and
sustenance for the winter. With the early emigration came the spirit of active enterprise,
so peculiar to the Great West. Soon improvements of all kinds began to show them-
selves over the country, town sites were located, farms, ranches, and garden spots dotted
our rich valleys, and the plans for a prosperous and happy future were speedily framed.
The necessity was at once felt of some law or rule of action to regulate the transactions
of man with man, and to secure life and property from the ruthless hands of the felon.
A vigilance committee, the first resource of an isolated and exposed community, was
organized, and certain offences occurring during the winter and spring were taken
cognizance of. But a more perfect form of government than was afforded by a vigilance
committee was needed. The reports of the golden harvest, greatly magnified, had
reached the States, and the news was received that tens of thousands were coming to
share the gains. A call was issued for a convention to take into consideration the pro-
priety of organizing a state government. Meantime, a wave of reaction had commenced
its flow, and the once sanguine emigrants were borne back by its rush, leaving only a
moiety to persevere on their way, determined to see for themselves and judge of the
matter personally. Amid the discouragements of the homeward stampede, it was
thought best at the meeting of the convention in June, to adjourn until the first Monday
in August, at which time it met and perfected its work by the formation of a consti-
tution, which was submitted to a vote of the people, on the first Monday of September,
and by them rejected.
The causes of the rejection of the State government were: First, a disinclination
of the people to bear the burden of a complete State organization. Second, a doubt
whether Congress would admit us as a State with less than the quota of population to
entitle us to a representative in Congress. Third, a desire to see the prosperity of the
country more fully established, and its resources more perfectly developed before taking
upon ourselves the responsibility of a State government.
At the election on the first Monday of October, a delegate was chosen to proceed
to Washington to procure the organization of our Territory at the earliest possible
period. Here then, we had provided for the future so far as we could ; but in the
interim, before the action of Congress, we would be without a government of a general
character, and without legal redress for the thousand personal grievances which neces-
sarily arise, and the more particularly in an unorganized community. The only resource
left us was in the exercise of that inherent right of self-government which every com-
munity of American citizens is held to possess. The necessities of the time being, gave
rise to the formation of the government of which your honorable bodies form the legis-
lative branch. And though the right which we have to form and maintain a provisional
government in the absence of a regular organization, cannot be successfully questioned,
yet it behooves us in the formation of this government to give to the world in distinct
terms our reasons for proceeding to take this step.
Our Territory occupies an isolated position, separated from the seats of government
of Kansas and Nebraska by a distance of about seven hundred miles, two hundred of
which is an almost sterile plain. Our interests and avocations differ so widely from
those of the citizens of either of the aforementioned territories or any other from which
our Territory is formed, that it is utterly impossible for us to be successfully incor-
APPENDIX. 517
porated with them in the same civil organization. An organization of a county or
counties has been attempted by the Legislature of Kansas Territory, but which action
has been utterly abortive and inoperative in its effects. It is apparent that any juris-
diction of Kansas Territory over this country, is expressly prohibited by the 19th section
of her organic act. Hence, this pretended organization has proven totally inadequate
to our wants, having only the shadow without the living substance of a government.
We have had no courts of either criminal or civil jurisdiction, either original or
appellate. Life and property were insecure, and crime was unpunished and to a great
extent unrebuked.
There can be no conflict with the laws of the United States, nor any disrespect
shown to the Federal Congress by taking the first and best course for the mutual pro-
tection, safety and happiness to the people of the Territory of Jefferson, when the
exigencies of the case so imperatively demanded action in the premises.
That the necessity for a government was felt, and that this government meets with
the approbation of a large majority of the people, is shown by the overwhelming vote
in its favor at the late election for its adoption. It now becomes the officers elect under
this government, to use their best endeavors to meets the ends for which the govern-
ment was established.
A great responsibility rests upon the first legislature of any commonwealth. It
becomes you well to consider the importance of all your actions. It is not the mere
exigencies of the present which you are to meet, but your work will give a cast and
character to the whole future of this country. The foresight and calm deliberation of
the sage will be required in the first moulding of the laws and institutions of our
embryo State. The eyes of the Union are upon us, and there are those ever ready to
criticise every step which maybe taken amiss ; let us then, not underrate the importance
of the task before us, but go to work like true citizens and patriots, devoted first and
last \o the well being of our country.
The developments of the past season have conclusively proven that the gold mines
will yield immense treasures to our enterprising citizens, and the explorations which
have been carried on so indefatigably in every gulch and canon, extending even over
the snowy range, open up a field for future industry, of immense extent.
These, with the mines of silver, iron, copper, lead, coal, and the quarries of lime-
stone, marble, gypsum, grit and other useful products of the mineral kingdom, furnish
a guaranty of future wealth unsurpassed by any country.
That it will be your early care to protect the miner in his arduous labors and secure
him the fruits of his toil, I sincerely trust.
The agricultural and horticultural resources of this country have been this season
sufficiently developed to warrant us in believing that the cereals and other vegetable
productions of this latitude, may be very successfully and profitably cultivated. Any
legislation which may tend to encourage the agriculturist should receive attention.
It will become your duty to establish a civil and criminal code of practice, to be
plain, certain, and easy of construction, which will afford to the party aggrieved, a
speedy, impartial, and adequate remedy.
The criminal law should be plain in its specification of crimes, with penalties that
can be inflicted, attached to each offence ; as it is the certainty of punishment that
causes the law to be obeyed and respected.
518 APPENDIX.
I would recommend a statute providing for miner's courts, by giving jurisdiction of
cases wherein mining interests are at stake, to certain officers, witli the right of jury
trial, and appeal to the district court, and that all courts, whether of original or appellate
jurisdiction, shall be bound to recognize the laws of the mining district where the
property in litigation is situated.
As a general law for the regulation of miners' interests that would operate equally
on all, I would recommend the action of " forcible entry and detainer," as being a
remedy generally understood by the courts and lawyers of the country.
By Art. VI, Sec. 4, of the organic act, it will be found to be your duty to divide
the Territory into three judicial districts, and assign the judges to their respective
districts.
You will also find in Art. VIII, Sec. i, of the organic act, that you are required to
provide some manner of defraying the e.xpenses of the provisional government ; this,
perhaps, is the most difficult part of your labors. But it is to be hoped that all our
citizens will recognize the importance of some well regulated government for the pro-
tection of our persons, our families, and our property ; and that they will willingly
support such an organization. Therefore, I would recommend to your honorable
bodies that a poll ta.x, not exceeding one dollar, be collected between the first day of
June and the first day of July next. Also, a small revenue might be obtained from
licenses granted to places of amusement.
It is very necessary you should provide the Territory with a stringent election law
to cover all cases of fraud. It will suffice for me to call your attention to this point, as
the history of our past elections already shows the want of such a law.
At the election held on the 24th of October, it will be seen that there were elected
a Governor, Secretary, Attorney General, a Chief-Justice, two Associate Justices, a
Marshal, Auditor, a Treasurer, a Clerk of the Supreme Court and a Superintendent of
Public Instruction. It will be your duty to define more particularly and specifically the
powers and duties of some of these officers, while of others it will be necessary to define
their duties in full.
It will devolve upon you to organize the Territory into counties, and locate their
county seats ; in all cases observing the convenience of the settlers.
All officers who may have either moneys or other important trusts committed to
their charge, should, by statute, be required to file with some officer specified, a good
and sufficient bond, conditioned that they will faithfully perform the duties of their
office, according to law.
As you have much labor before you at the present session, I would call your
attention to the fact, that it would be well to avoid, as much as possible, special legis-
lation ; but provide by general laws for the incorporation of all bodies, whether
corporations for pecuniary profit or municipal governments.
The evil of too much special legislation is one which Western legislators are very
prone to run into, thereby neglecting very important laws of a general character ; when
once the door is thrown open to this abuse of legislative power, it is very difficult to
check it. It is therefore hoped, that your course on this subject will be a con-
servative one.
You will at all times recognize the constitutional authority and power of the United
APPENDIX. 519
States government over us. The right of petitioning and memorializing Congress is
indisputably yours here, as in any other portion of the Union.
To the general government we are required to look for the extinguishment of the
Indian title to the lands of this Territory, for the establishment of mails and mail routes
to the principal and important towns of the Territory, with such branches as the popu-
lation of the country may demand. Also for the construction of military roads and
bridges, and for the establishment of a sufficient number of forts and magazines, at
such places as will afford the greatest protection to our citizens.
Many other subjects of important and legitimate legislation, will from time to time
arise during your session, which it is impossible at this time to foresee ; you are aware
that the wants of our citizens demand an immediate action on your part for- the adoption
of a systemized code of laws.
Thousands of our citizens have returned to their homes in the States for the purpose
of returning with their families and friends early next spring, and a great necessity of
some definite rule of law in this Territory is admitted by all to e.xist at this time ; then
how much more so will it be needed during the coming spring and summer, when our
population will probably be swelled to one hundred thousand, all eager to push their
fortunes in any avocation that promises the greatest remuneration.
Let us then, enter upon our duties with a determination of spirit that conquers all
difficulties ; working for the benefit of the whole commonwealth, encouraging moder-
ation and conservatism in all our acts, that we may never be ashamed of having taken
an humble part in the organization of a provisional government for the Territory of
Jefferson. Signed,
R. W. Steele, Governor.
Denver, Nov. 7th, 1S59.
DIARY OF A PIONEER.
The notes subjoined are literal transcripts from the diary of Mr. George A.
Jackson, who made the first discovery of gold placer mines in the Rocky Mountains,
on Chicago Creek, opposite the present town of Idaho Springs. In his letter of trans-
mittal Mr. Jackson (now a resident of Ouray), says:
The following will give you a pretty clear idea of what kind of a life we led, as
well as a clear insight into the daily routine of our lives. Tom Golden, James Sanders
and I left the Arapahoe village after selling out our stock of Indian goods, in the fall of
'58, and moved up on Vasquez Fork, and pitched our lodges on the present site of
Golden City, and wintered at that point, just where Gen. George West's father-in-law
afterward built his residence in the town of Golden:
Dec. 26th, 1S5S: Tom Golden, Black Hawk and I left camp to-day for an elk hunt;
took the old Ute trail with cart and one yoke of cattle. Went into Elk (now Bergen's)
Park, about seven miles southwest of our camp. Snowing. Camped at spring in
Quaking Asps.
520 APPENDIX.
Dec. 27th: Still snowing. Tom hunting oxen. Black Hawk and I for elk. I
killed an old bull; no good. Black Hawk killed a fine fat doe. Still snowing.
Dec. 28th: Snowing fast, accompanied by high wind. In camp all day.
Dec. 29th: All out hunting to-day. Tom down the creek, Black Hawk to the
north, and I to the two Blue Mountains, one and one-half miles to the west. Tom
killed two deer, Black Hawk one deer and two elk. I got into camp late at night; saw
about 600 elk; killed five cows and one bull.
Dec. 30th: All off for the elk grounds of yesterday. Tom and Black Hawk to
butcher the kill of yesterday and I to follow up the elk trail. Left Tom and Black
Hawk butchering elk and I took the elk trail west; followed to brow of mountain,
looking down on Vasquez Fork. Ran into the band again. Killed one fat cow and
camped.
Dec. 31st: Jerked elk meat until noon with intention of going down mountain to
Vasquez Fork. Packed meat and blankets and started down over fallen timber and
through snow four feet deep. Had a h — 1 of a time before I reached the creek. Went
into camp at dark. Dogs and I almost tired out. Made big fire after supper and
dried my clothes and blankets. Turned in about 12 o'clock, and slept good until
daylight.
Jan. ist, 1S59: Clear day. My supply of State's grub short — two pounds bread,
one pound coffee, one-half pound salt. Plenty of dried elk for myself and dogs yet,
so here goes for head of creek. Told Tom I would be back in a week to our old camp
above Table Mountains. Off; good going most of the way. Killed mountain lion
to-day. Made about eight miles and camped at Warm (now Soda Creek) Springs, near
mouth of small creek coming in on south side. Snow all gone around springs. Killed
fat sheep and camped under three cottonwood trees. About 1,000 sheep in sight
tornight; no scarcity of meat in future for myself or dogs. Good.
Jan. 2d: Drum and Kit woke me by low growls at daylight. Sheep all gone;
mountain lion within twenty steps. Pulled my gun and shot too quick; broke his
shoulder, but followed up and killed him. Clear high wind and very cold. In camp
all day. Built bough house, and ate fat sheep. Bread all gone. Plenty good meat.
No wantum bread.
Jan. 3d: Still clear and very cold— sun dogs. Sheep came down again; are very
tame; walk up to within 100 yards of camp and look and stamp at us. Mountain lion
killed one within 200 yards of camp to-day and scattered the whole band again. Went
up the main creek to another tributary (now Chicago Creek) coming in from the south,
a little larger than this one.
Jan. 4th: Pleasant day. Made a long tramp to-day. Followed up the main fork
five miles. Here the creek forks again; each about the same width. Followed up the
north fork about five miles; rough country and plenty of snow. Got back to camp
after dark. Mountain lion stole all my meat in camp; no supper to-night; d— n him.
Jan. 5th: Up before daylight. Killed fat sheep and wounded mountain lion
before sunrise. Ate ribs for breakfast; drank last of my coffee. After breakfast I
moved up to next creek on south side, one-half mile. Made camp under big fir tree.
Good gravel here; looks like it would carry gold. Wind has blown snow off of the
rim, but gravel is hard frozen. Panned out two cups; nothing but fine colors.
APPENDIX. 521
Jan. 6th: Pleasant day. Built big fire on rim rock to thaw gravel; kept it up all
day. Corcajou came into camp while I was at fire; dogs killed him after I had broken
his back with belt axe; h — 1 of a fight.
Jan. 7th: Clear day. Removed fire embers and dug into rim on bed rock.
Panned out eight Treaty cups; found nothing but fine gold; ninth cup got one nugget
of coarse gold. Feel good to-night; dogs don't; Drum is lame all over; sewed gash in
his leg to-night. Corcajou no good for dog.
Jan. 8th: Pleasant day. Well, Tom, old boy, I've got the diggins at last, but can't
be back in a week. Dogs can't travel. D — n a Corcajou. Dug and panned to-day
until my belt knife was worn out; so will have to quit or use my skinning knife. I
have about half an ounce of gold; so will quit and try and get back in the spring.
Jan. 9th: Filled up hole with charcoal from big fire and built a fire over it, and
marked the big fir tree with belt axe and knife.
Jan. loth: Snowing like h — 1; high wind and cold. In camp all day. Drum can
hardly walk around to-day.
Jan. nth: Cold, and has quit snowing. Still in camp doctoring my dog; his leg
has swollen to the size of my arm above my elbow. D — n a Corcajou.
Jan. 1 2th: Made a start down the creek on the ice to-day. Made about four miles
and camped. Got balsam and put on Drum's wounds to-night; he is very sore.
Jan. 13th: Pleasant day. Started late and traveled slow; made about ten miles
and went into camp in a dark canon. Drum is a great deal better to-night. Kit is all
right.
Jan. 14th: Started early. Good going on ice. Had a hard time getting down
some falls to-day. Stopped at noon two hours and whanged up my moccasins; nearly
barefooted. Got out at mouth of canon just at dark, and got down to the old camp
and had a good supper of State's grub. Tom was getting uneasy a little. After
supper I told him what I had found and showed him the gold, and we talked, smoked
and ate the balance of the night. I could hardly realize I had been gone nineteen days.
Jan. 15th: Pleasant day. Tom hasn't seen the stock for three days. Tom after
the stock, and I making moccasins. Got back with horses, mules and cattle at noon,
all in good order. Snow about six inches deep. Good feed for stock.
Jan. 1 6th: Both making moccasins to-day. Will start for trappers' camp at mouth
of Big Thompson in a few days to bring up my mule.
Jan. 17th: Went down to Arapahoe village to-day. Found Marsh Cook, Dick
Cartwright, Sam Curtis, Ned Wynkoop, Hamp Boone, and Jerry Lewis at the Indian
village. They had surveyed off a town site; call it Arapahoe. Marsh Cook is sluicing
a little with two boxes on bar of Vasquez Fork. No good; too fine to save without
quicksilver, and not enough to pay with it. Black Hawk came up to camp with me.
Jan. iSth: Will start for mouth of Big Thompson to-morrow. Nailed shoes on Old
Chief to-day, and Black Hawk and I made Hackamore and sinche.
Jan. 19th: Left camp at 10 o'clock for the river. Got as far as Arapahoe village
and staid all night with the boys. Played poker all night for buckskins. Jerry Lewis
bagged the game.
Jan. 20th: Off for Jim Robinson's. Ned Wynkoop, Jim Sanders and I made
mouth of St. Vrain and staid at Noel Siminoe's lodge.
622 APPENDIX.
Jan. 2 1 St: Went through to-day. Found the old camp all well. Chat Dubra and
Antoine Leboa have my mule off after antelope. They got back to-night. We staid all
night at old Jim's lodge.
Jan. 22: Left for Auraria. Fine day. Old Phil with us. He wants to get my
stock to go to Laramie for mail; wont do it.
Jan. 23d: Staid all night at mouth of Vasquez with Bateau, Leboa and Neva.
Niwot is sick; mountain fever, I think.
Jan. 24th: Went to old John Smith's lodge and saw Jack Henderson and John
Ming. They tell me they will give one dollar a letter and fifty cents a paper for all
papers and letters directed to any man in camp. Also twenty-five cents a paper for all
newspapers not over a month old. So here goes. I want to see old Seth Ward,
anyhow. (The mail was at Fort Laramie).
Jan. 25th: Got every man's name in camp to-day, and left for my camp on Vasquez
Fork. Phil wants to go. Tom wants Phil to stay at our camp and let him go, but Phil
wont do it. Packed up our things for the trip and got Oakes' Henry rifle for Phil. I
take my old Hawkins.
Jan. 26th: Left early. Followed the old trail along the base of the mountains and
camped with Jack Rande on St. Vrain's Fork.
Jan. 27th: Off early. Found Antoine and Nick Janiss, with several others, at the
crossing of Cache la Poudre. Camped to-night on Box Elder. Snowing.
Jan. 28th: Still snowing a little. Made about forty miles to-day and camped on
tributary of Lodge Pole Creek.
Jan. 29th: Cold and clear. Off early. Passed Brule village on the Chugwater.
Swift Bird and Chocka with hunting party. Hard day's travel. Camped on the Chug-
water. Phil shot six times at a deer. No meat. Henry rifle no good for deer; maybe
some good for prairie dog.
Jan. 30th : Still snowing. Got to Deer Creek and went into camp with Lightner's men.
Jan. 31st: Went down to the Fork to-day. Got all the letters I could raise on my
list, and about 100 papers all told. Left Phil at old Seth Ward's. If he gets drunk I
will leave him.
Feb. isl: In camp all day. Good feed for horses and mules. Phil got back
to-night half drunk. Will start back to-morrow. Found Phil's bottle; broke it.
Feb. 2d: Got the stock up and ready to make a start. Phil still asleep. Ate my
breakfast and woke him up. He wants to go, so had to wait until he got his breakfast.
Off in snowstorm. Made Swift Bird's village and went into camp. Phil has been as
cross as a bear all day.
Feb. 3d: Started early. Clear and cold. Good going. Made forty miles and
camped at Medicine Trace, south of divide. Phil's pony came near giving out to-day.
Feb. 4th: Killed a fat doe this morning. Staid in camp until noon. Phil's pony
no good. Off after dinner. Made twenty-five miles and camped at Deer Springs in
the foot hills.
Feb. 5th: Started early. Only came as far as Cache la Poudre and staid all
night with Antoine Janiss. Phil's pony nearly gone; no good.
Feb. 6th: Off for St. Vrain. Camped on Bonita Fork. Killed antelope. Phil
killed two sprigtail grouse. Had good supper.
APPENDIX. 523
Feb. 7th: Off early. Made John Smith's lodge and gave out letters and papers,
and collected $132 for the trip, besides bringing back ten pounds of trade balls,
ten pounds of powder, 2,000 waterproof caps, with some extra traps. Gave Phil $50.
He owes Al Garwitch $100, but wont give him a dollar; wants to save his money and
buy whisky, the old brute.
Feb. 8th: Left one of my mules with Jack Jones and came up to camp on Vasquez.
Found Tom and Black Hawk well and hearty. One letter for Tom; none for Black
Hawk; his friends are like mine, all dead. Old Chief looks a little like he has had a
hard trip. Good grass here; he will be all right in a day or two.
Feb. 9th: Graining skins to-day to make coat and pants. Got plenty buckskin
needles and saddler's silk now. Lower boys came up from Arapahoe for mail. They
say they will have a town down there in the spring. Want us to move down. No town
for us. We will bounce out for the head of Vasquez in the early spring. Tom is the
only man who knows I found gold up the creek, and as his mouth is as tight as a No. 4
beaver trap, I am not uneasy.
CITY OFFICERS OF THE CITY OF DENVER FROM ITS
ORGANIZATION, NOVEMBER, 1861.
From November, 1861, to April i, 1862.
Mayor. — Charles A. Cook.
Aldermen. — First Ward: H. J. Brendlinger, John A. Nye. Second Ward: L.
Mayer, W. W. Barlow. Third Ward: J. E. Vawter, L. Buttrick.
Police Magistrate. — P. P. Wilcox.
City Marshal.— \N. M. Keith.
City Clerk and Attorney.—]. Bright Smith.
City Surveyor. — E. D. Boyd.
City Collector and Treasurer. — George W. Brown, Jos. B. Cass.*
Street Commissioner. — D. D. Palmer.
Chief of Police. — George E. Thornton.
From April ist, 1862, to April i.f/, 1S63.
Mayor. — Charles A. Cook.
Aldermen.— Y\rst Ward: Jas. A. Cook, H. J. Brendlinger. Second Ward: C. E.
Cooke, L. Mayer, J. M. Broadwell.f Third Ward: B. B. Stiles, J. E. Vawter.
Police Magistrate.— v. P. Wilcox.
Police Marshal. — A. J. Snyder.
City Surveyor. — E. D. Boyd, George L. Moody. J
* Jos. B. Cass elected Dec. 30th, 1861, in place of George \V. Brown, resigned.
t Elected to fill une.xpired term of C. E. Cooke, deceased.
X George L. Moody elected May 22d, 1S62, in place of E. D. Boyd, resigned.
524 APPENDIX.
City Attorney. — J. Bright Smith.
City Clerk. — Chauncey Barbour.
City Treasurer and Collector. — George T. Clark.
Street Commissioners. — D. D. Palmer, Jos. L. Bailey.*
Chief of I'olice— George E. Thornton, f
From April ist, 1863, to April 1st, 1864.
Mayor. — Amos Steck.
Aldermen.— ¥\m Ward: H. J. Brendlinger, George Tritch. Second Ward: J. W.
Kerr, L. Mayer. Third Ward: B. B. Stiles, Edwin Scudder.
Police Justices. — James Hall, O. O. Kent.
City Marshal. — J. L. Bailey.
City Attorney. — Moses Hallett.
City Clerk. — Chauncey Barbour.
City Surveyor. — F. J. Ebert.
City Treasurer. — George T. Clark.
City Collector.— A. J. Snyder.
From April ist, 1864, to April 1st, 1865.
Mayor. — H. J. Brendlinger.
Aldermen. — First Ward: John Maloney, Leavitt L. Bowen. Second Ward: Alvin
McCune, George Tritch. Third Ward: S. D. Kasserman, Edward Gaffney.
Police Justices. — James Hall, O. O. Kent.
City Marshal. — Jos. L. Bailey.
City Clerk and Assessor. — Chauncey Barbour. |
City Attorney.—]. Q. Charles.
City Surveyor.— Y. J. Ebert.
City Treasurer.— George T. Clark.
/''rom April 1st, 1865, to April 1st, 1866.
Mayor.— George T. Clark.
Aldermen. — First Ward: H. Fuerstein, John Maloney, Ed. Chase.§ Second
Ward: Jos. Kline, Alvin McCune, M. M. DeLano.|| Third Ward: O. A. Whittemore,
S. D. Kasserman, E. N. Harvey.t
Police Justices.— Y. P. Wilcox, S. D. Hunter.
City Marshal.—]. L. Bailey.
City Clerk and Assessor.—^. B. Stiles.
City Attorney. — Moses Hallett.
City Surveyor. — F. J. Ebert.
* Jos. L. Bailey elected at a special election August 20th, 1862, in place of D. D. Palmer, resigned.
f Office abolished June 12th, 1862.
% James Hall elected City Clerk, vice Chauncey Barbour, resigned, in November, 1864.
^ Elected in place of John Maloney, resigned.
II Elected in place of Alvin McCune, resigned.
H Elected in place of O. A. Whittemore, resigned.
APPENDIX. 525
City Treasurer. — Luther Kountze.
City Collector.— \\\ D. Anthony.
From April \st, 1866, to April ist, 1S67.
Mayor. — Milton M. DeLano.
Aldermen.— ¥m\. Ward: J. D. Scott, Moritz Sigi. Second Ward: John E. Force,
G. C. Schleier. Third Ward: R. L. Hatten, George H. Estabrook, John J. Reithmann,*
Daniel Ullman.f Foui-th Ward: William R. Ford, Ed. Chase, R. E. Whitsitt.];
Police Justices.— V. P. Wilcox, S. D. Hunter.
City Marshal.— D. J. Cook.
City Clerk and Assessor.— B. B. Stiles.
City Attorney. — I. W. Cook.
City Surveyor. — G. V. Boutelle.
City Treasurer. — H. J. Rogers.
City Collector.— R. L. Hatten.
From April ist, 1867, to April 1st, 1868.
Mayor. — Milton M. DeLano.
Aldermen. — First Ward: J- D. Scott, T. G. Anderson. Second Ward: J. E. Force,
John Weinshank. Third Ward: Daniel Ullman, P. P. Wilcox. Fourth Ward: W. R.
Ford, Ed. Chase.
Police Justices.— Y.. S. Wilson, P. P. Wilcox, O. O. Kent,§ J. Downing. ||
City Marshal— T). J. Cook.
City Assessor. — Calvin Boyer.
City Surveyor. — R. Fisher.
City Clerk.— B. B. Stiles.
City Attorney. — M. Benedict.
Street Commissioner. — J. E. Wurtzebach.
City Treasurer. — Frank Palmer.
City Collector.— ^l. Anker, B. B. Stiles. K
Frotn April ist, 1868, to April 1st, 1869.
Mayor.— \X. M. Clayton.
Aldertnen. — First Ward: T. G. Anderson, J. E. Bates. Second Ward: John Wein-
shank, William Barth. Third Ward: P. P. Wilcox, J. L. Bailey. Fourth Ward: Ed.
Chase, W. R. Ford, H. M. Porter.**
Police Justices.— R. S. Wilson, J. S. Taylor.
City Marshal.— D. J. Cook.
* Elected in place of R. L. Hatten, resigned.
f Elected in place of J. J. Reithmann, resigned.
I Elected in place of Ed. Chase, resigned.
§ Elected to fill unexpired terra of P. P. Wilco.x, declared ineligible.
1 Elected to fill vacancy caused by non-election of O. O. Kent, as Probate Judge.
U Elected to fill unexpired term of M. Anker, removed from city.
** Declared entitled to seat in Council, after contest with W. R. Ford.
526 APPENDIX.
City Assessor. — G. N. Billings.
Cify Surveyor. — R. Fishier.
Cify Clerk.- -V>. C. Dodge.
City Attorney.— Q,. W. Purkins.
City Treasurer. — C. B. Kountze.
City Collector.— G. C. Schleier.
From April \st, 1869, to April ist, 1870.
Mayor.— B. B. Stiles.
Aldermen. — First Ward: J. E. Bates, H. Wagner. Second Ward: William Barth,
J. E. Force. Third Ward: J. L. Bailey, W. Londoner. Fourth Ward: H. M. Porter,
F. Cramer.
City Clerk.— O. A. Whittemore.
City Marshal.— G. M. Hopkins.
City Treasurer. — C. B. Kountze.
City Collector.— Q,. C. Schleier.
City Assessor. — W. J. Curtice.
City Surveyor. — R. Fisher.
City Attorney. — A. Sayer.
Police Justices.—]. S. Taylor, O. Brooks.
From April 1st, 1870, to April 1st, 1871.
Mayor.— B. B. Stiles.
AlJermen.—Y\rst Ward: H. Wagner, J. E. Bates. Second Ward: John E. Force,
John Maloney. Third Ward: W. Londoner, J. L. Bailey. Fourth Ward: F. Cramer, E.
A. Willoughby.
City Marshal. — George M. Hopkins.
City Assessor. — John Chamard, E. H. Starrette.*
City Surveyor.— 'K. Fisher, F. M. Case.f
City Clerk.— Gtorge T. Clark.
City Attorney. — M. Benedict.
City Treasurer. — C. B. Kountze.
City Collector.— .K. R. Lincoln.
Folice /ustices.—O. Brooks, J. S. Taylor, W. W. Deniston. X
From April 1st, 1871, to April 1st, 1872.
Mayor. — John Harper.
Aldermen.— First Ward: J. E. Bates, A. Woeber. Second Ward: John Maloney, F.
B. Crocker. Third Ward: J. L. Bailey, M. D. Clifford. Fourth Ward: E. A. Wil-
loughby, Peter Winne.
City Marshal. — G. M. Hopkins.
City Assessor. — L. H. Curtice.
* Elected to fill unexpired term of J. Chamard, deceased.
f Designated by Council to till vacancy caused by death of R. Fisher.
I Elected to fill unexpired term of O. Brooks.
APPENDIX. 527
City Surveyor.— YL. A. Luebers, F. M. Case.*
City Clerk.—]. V. Griffin.
City Attor7iey.—Y). D. Belden.
City Treasurer. — J. C. Anderson.
City Collector. — A. R. Lincoln.
Police Justices.— W. W. Deniston, H. A. Clough.
From April ist, 1S72, to April isf, 1873.
Mayor. — Joseph E. Bates.
Aldermen. — First Ward: A. McNamee, A. Woeber. Second Ward: C. R. Hartman,
John Maloney. Third Ward: James M. Broad well, M. D. Clifford. Fourth Ward:
William Holliday, Peter Winne.
City Clerk.—]. V. Griffin.
City Marshal.— G. M. Hopkins.
City Assessor. — Gus. Opitz.
City Surveyor. — S. H. Gilson.
City Attorney.— T). D. Belden.
City Treasurer. — A. B. Daniels.
City Collector. — Abram Lincoln.
Police Justices.— Yi. A. Clough, O. H. Whittier.
From April \st, 1873, to April 1st, 1874.
Mayor. — Francis M. Case.
Aldermen. — First Ward: A. McNamee, T. G. Anderson. Second Ward: C. R.
Hartman, John Maloney. Third Ward: A. McCune, J. M. Broadwell. Fourth Ward:
Wm. J. Barker, Wm. Holliday. Fifth Ward: O. D. F. Webb, G. W. Sigler, W. W.
McLellan.f Sixth Ward: S. D. Kasserman, D. H. Soggs.
City Clerk.— N. P. Hastings.
City Marshal.— \N. A. Smith.
City Assessor. — R. C. Bishop.
City Surveyor. — S. H. Gilson.
City Attorney. — M. Benedict.
City Treasurer. — G. W. Kassler.
City Collector.— O. H. Whittier.
Police Justices. — Daniel Sayer, John Walker.
From April 1st, 1874, to April 1st, 1875.
Mayor. — William J. Barker.
Aldermen. — First Ward: T. G. Anderson, A. J. Barker. Second Ward: J. K.
AVilson, John Maloney, M. D. Currigan.J: Third Ward: A. McCune, Henry C. Clark.
Fourth Ward: A. J. Williams, F. M. Hawes.g Fifth Ward: O. D. F. Webb, W. W.
McLellan. Si.xth Ward: S. D. Kasserman, Wm. R. Whitehead, Phil. Zang.ll
* Designated by Council, caused by tlie resignation of II. A. Leubers.
f Elected to fill unexpired term of G. W. Sigler, removed from city.
X Elected to vacancy, caused by death of J. Maloney.
§ Elected to unexpired term of \V. J. Barker, elected Mayor.
I Elected to vacancy, by resignation of S. D. Kasserman.
628 APPENDIX.
City Clerk. — Chas. F. Leimer.
City Attorney. — T. M. Patterson.
City Collector.—]. M. Strickler.*
City Assessor. — George C Roberts. f
City Surveyor. — J. H. Bonsall.
City Treasurer.— T. M. Field.
Chief of Police.—]. C. McCallin.
Police Magistrate. — D. Sayer.
From April ist, 1875, *° April 1st, 1876.
Mayor. — William J. Barker.
Aldermen.— Y'nsl Ward: C. R. Hartman; A. J. Barker. Second Ward: M. D. Cur-
rigan, J. G. Hoffer. Third Ward: H. C. Clark, W. H. J. Nichols. Fourth Ward: F. M.
Hawes, George W. Brown. Fifth Ward: W. W. McLellan, F. M. Case. Sixth Ward;
Dr. Wm. R. Whitehead, A. H. Root.
City Clerk. — C. F. Leimer.
City Attorney. — C. S. Thomas.
City Collector.—]. M. Strickler.
City Assessor. — George C. Roberts.
City Treasurer. — T. M. Field.
City Surveyor. — H. C. Lowrie.
Chief of Police.—]. C. McCallin.
Police Afagistrate.-T). Sayer.
Fro?n April \st, 1876, to April \st, 1877.
Mayor.— T>r. R. G. Buckingham. i
Alderme?i.—Y\rst Ward: C. R. Hartman, Simon Block. Second Ward: J. G.
Hoffer, Job A. Cooper. Third Ward: W. H. J. Nichols, L. A. Watkins. Fourth
Ward: George W. Brown, George L. Aggers. Fifth Ward: F. M. Case, Albert
Brown. Si.xth Ward: A. H. Root, George Anstee.
City Clerk. — C. F. Leimer.
City Attorney.— C. S. Thomas.
City Surveyor. — H. C. Lowrie.
City Physician. — Samuel Cole.
Chief of Police.— V). W. Mays.
Police Justices.— V). Sayer, H. E. Luthe.J
City Collector.—]. M. Strickler.
City Treasurer. — P. Gottesleben.
City Assessor. — George C. Roberts.
From April 1st, 1877, to October <)fh, i877.§
Mayor. — Dr. R. G. Buckingham.
* County Treasurer, ex-officio City Collector.
f County Assessor, ex-officio City Assessor.
% Elected to vacancy caustd by expiration of term of D. Sayer.
§ By Act of the Lesrislature 1876-77, the election of city officers was changed to October in each year.
APPENDIX. 529*
President of the Council* — Francis M. Case.
Aldermen. — First Ward: Samuel Block, C. R. Hartman. Second Ward: Job A.
Cooper, Thomas Linton. Third Ward: L. A. Watkins, H. McElheny. Fourth Ward:
George L. Aggers, John W. Knox. Fifth Ward: Albert Brown, F. M. Case. Si.xth
Ward: George Anstee, A. H. Root.
City Clcrk.—H. P. Parraelee.
City Attorney.— A.. C. Phelps.
City Surveyor. — H. C. Lowrie.
City Physician. — Samuel Cole.
Police Magistrate. — H. E. Luthe.
Chief of Police. — D. W. Mays.
City Collector. — J. M. Strickler.
City Treasurer. — P. Gottesleben.
City Assessor. — W. F. Corbett.
From October gth, 1877, to October Sth, 1878
Mayor. — Baxter B. Stiles.
President of the Council. — Francis M. Case.
Aldermen.— First Ward: C. R. Hartman, D. C. Oswald. Second Ward: Thomas
Linton, Job A. Cooper. Third Ward: H. McElheny, E. B. Light. Fourth Ward:
John W. Knox, George L. Aggers. Fifth Ward: F. M. Case, W. W. McLellan. Sixth
Ward: A. H. Root, James L. White.
City Clerk.— n. P. Parmelee.
City Attorney. — A. C. Phelps.
City Surveyor. — L. Cutshaw.
Chief of Police.— C. P. Stone.
City Collector.—]. M. Strickler. f
City Treasurer. — John Good.
Police Justice. — O. A. Whittemore.
City Assessor.— \\. F. Corbett. J
From October Sth, 1878, to October ^th, 1879.
Mayor. — Richard Sopris.
President of the Council. — Job A. Cooper.
Aldermen.— Y'nst Ward: D. C. Oswald, William E. Edom. Second Ward: Job A.
Cooper, Thomas Linton. Third Ward: E. B. Light, Robert Morris. Fourth Ward:
George L. Aggers, F. N. Davis. Fifth Ward: W. W. McLellan, John Cook, Jr.
Sixth Ward: Robert Aurich, George Anstee. .
City Clerk.— U. P. Parmelee.
City Attorney.— Y.. B. Sleeth.
City Engineer.. — L. Cutshaw.
Police Magistrate. — O. A. Whittemore.
* Elected to preside over the Council in ttie absence of the Mayor, and to perform the duties of the
Mayor while absent from the city.
f Term of office expired January 1st, 187S; John L. Dailey elected his successor.
X Term of office expired January ist, 1S7S; H. A. Terpenning elected his successor.
34 "
530 APPENDIX.
Chief of Police.— \W. R. Hickey.
City Collector. — J. L. Dai ley.
City Treasurer. — John Good.
City Assessor. — H. A. Terpenning.
City Scavenger. — Chas. Nadler.
City Physician — F. J. Bancroft.
From October ()th, 1879, to November i,th, 1880.
Mayor. — Richard Sopris.
President of the Council. — C. H. McLaughlin.
Aldermen. — First Ward: F. M. Davis, J. D. McGilvray. Second Ward: R. Y. Force.
Carlos Gove. Third Ward: C. H. McLaughlin, Robert Morris. Fourth Ward: Ezra
Fairchild, W. H. Lessig. Fifth Ward: J. A. Meyers, W. W. McLellan. Sixth Ward:
R. Bandhauer, Edward Fox.
City Clerk.— K. P. Parmelee.
City Attorney. — J. L. Jerome.
City Engineer. — H. C. Lowrie.
Police Magistrate. — O. A. Whittemore.
Chief of Police.— \N. R. Hickey, D. J. Cook.*
City Collector.—]. L. Dailey.
City Treasurer. — John Good.
City Assessor. — Geo. C. Roberts.
City Scavenger. — Chas. Nadler.
City Physician. — J. W. Graham.
From November Mi, 1881, to Not^ember -jth, 1882.
Mayor. — Robert Morris.
President of the Council. — Carlos Gove.
Aldermen.— ¥\Ti,\.\NsirA: John D. McGilvray, N. W. Sample. Second Ward: Carlos
Gove, R. Y. Force. Third Ward: James Inman, W. W. Whipple. Fourth Ward: W.
H. Lessig, W. D. Rector. Fifth Ward: W. W. McLellan, Isaac Brinker. Sixth Ward:
Ed. L. Fox, R. Bandhauer.
City C/^r/t.— James T. Smith.
City Attorney. — John C. Stallcup.
City Engineer. — E. H. Kellogg.
Police Magistrate. — Geo. L. Sopris.
Chief of Police. — James M. Lomery.
^Street Cominissioner. — B. J. Currigan.
Chief Fire Department.— T . S. Clayton.
City Collector.— ]o\\n L. Dailey.
City Assessor. — Geo. C. Roberts.
City Scavenger. — O. L. Engleman.
City Physician. — W. W. Anderson.
City Treasurer.— V^\ M. Bliss.
\
*W. R. Hickey resigned and D. J. Cook elected in his place.
APPENDIX. 531
From November -jt/i, 1882, to April \oth, 1883.
Mayor. — Robert Morris.
President of Council. — Carlos Gove.
Aldermen. — First Ward: N. W. Sample, Geo. W. Armstrong. Second Ward:
R. Y. Force, Carlos Gove. Third Ward: W. W. Whipple, L. A. Watkins. Fourth
Ward: W. D. Rector, F. N. Davis. Fifth Ward: Isaac Brinker, G. G. Darrow. Sixth
Ward: R. Bandhauer, Ed. L. Fo.x.
City Clerk. — C. F. Leimer.
City Attorney. — Jas. A. Dawson.
City Engineer. — H. C. Lowrie.
Police Magistrate. — Jas. L. Crotty.
Chief of Police. — James M. I, ornery.
Street Commissioiier. — William Toovey.
Chief Fire Departtnent. — Julius Pearse.
City Collector.— John L. Daiiey.
City Assessor. — Geo. C. Roberts.
City Scavenger. — John H. Anderson.
City Physician. — A. Labrie.
City Treasurer.— W. M. Bliss.
From April lot/i, 1883, to April loth, 1884.
Mayor. — John L. Routt.
President of Council. — E. J. Brooks.
Aldermen. — First Ward: Geo. W. Armstrong, Frank Wheeler. Second Ward:
Carlos Gove, J. H. Allen. Third Ward: L. A. Watkins. Geo. N. Billings. Fourth
Ward: F. N. Davis, D. J. Kelley. Fifth Ward: G. G. Darrow, J. T. Younker. Sixth
Ward: Ed. L. Fox, R. Bandhauer. Seventh Ward: Geo. D. Watson. John D. Mc-
Gilvray. Eighth Ward: O. S. McLain, E. J. Brooks. Ninth Ward: E. P. McPhilomy,
E. J. Maginn.
City Clerk.— C. F. Leimer.
City Attorney. — Frank Tilford.
City Engineer. — H. C. Lowrie.
Police Magistrate. — J. Mullahey.
Chief of Police.— \N. A. Smith.
Building Inspector. — E. A. Willoughby.
Chief Fire Department. — Julius Pearse.
City Collector.— John L. Daiiey.
City Assessor. — Geo. C. Roberts.
City Auditor.— W. R. Beatty.
City Physician. — A. Labrie.
City Treasurer.— W. M. Bliss.
From April loth, 1884, to April loth, 18S5.
Mayor. — John L. Routt.
President of Council. — E. J. Brooks.
532 APPENDIX.
Alderjiun. — First Ward: Frank Wheeler, Thos. G. Anderson. Second Ward: J. H.
Allen, Carlos Gove. Third Ward: Geo. N. Billings, C. H. McLaughlin. Fourth Ward:
D. J. Kelley, F. N. Davis. Fifth Ward: J. T. Younker, Jacob H. Allen. Sixth Ward:
R. Bandhauer, Ed. L. Fox. Seventh Ward: John D. McGilvray, J. A. Mclntyre.
Eighth Ward: E. J. Brooks, Jas. F. Matthews. Ninth Ward: E. J. Maginn, J. F.
Schmidt.
City Clerk.— K. W. Speer.
City Attorney. — Frank Tilford.
City Engineer. — H. C. Lowrie.
Police Magistrate. — J. Mullahey.
Chief of Police.— \V. A. Smith.
Building Inspector. — E. A. Willoughby.
Chief Fire Department. — Julius Fearse.
City Collector.— Y. Church.
City Assessor.— \\. W. Whipple.
City Auditor.— \^ . R. Beatty.
City Physician. — S. R. Hamer.
City Treasurer.— \X. M. Bliss.
From April \o1h, 1885, to April \oth, 1887.
Mayor. — Joseph E. Bates.
Board of Supervisors. — President, O. L. Smith, C. J. Clark, Thomas Nicholl,
Fred Cramer, C. D. Cobb.
Aldermen. — First Ward: Walter Conway. Second Ward: H. F. Jones. Third
Ward: D. C. Packard. Fourth Ward: Frank H. Kaub. Fifth Ward: J. Gratz Brown.
Sixth Ward: Ira H. Pendleton. Seventh Ward: C. J. Driscoll. Eighth Ward: D. P.
Hadfield. Ninth Ward: Michael Ward.
City Clerk.— ]a.s. R. Tread way.
City Auditor.— Y. P. Hastings.
City Treasurer.— W. M. Bliss.
City Engineer. — H. C. Lowrie.
Chief of Police.— A. W. Hogle.
Chief Fire Department. — Julius Pearse.
City Attorney. — Jas. H. Brown.
Police Magistrate. — Isaac E. Barnum.
Health Commissioner. — H. W. McLaughlin.
Street Commissioner.— A. C. Wright.
Water Commissioner. — N. K. Miller.
Building Ins/Hector. — J. A. Mclntyre.
Sealer Weights and Measures. — S. W. Schermerhorn.
Boiler Inspector. — P. B. Eagan.
From April 10th, 1887, to April 10th, 1889.
Mayor. — William Scott Lee.
Board of Supervisors.— Vxt%\&&xA, C. J. Clark, M. A. Latimer, P. B. Russell, C.
Walbrach, D. C. Packard.
APPENDIX. 533
Aldermen. — First Ward: Walter Conway. Second AVard: Daniel Ryan. Third
Ward: J. B. Goodman. Fourth Ward: B. Safley. Fifth Ward: Adam Graff. Sixth
Ward: A. H. Root. Seventh Ward: J. D. McGilvray. Eighth Ward: J. F. Adams.
Ninth Ward: M. W. Burke.
City Clerk.— ']a.s. R. Treadway.
City Auditor. — A. A. McKnight.
City Treasurer. — W. M. Bliss.
City Engineer. — H. C. Lowrie.
Chief of Police.— M. T. Brady.
Chief Fire Department. — Julius Pearse.
City Attorney.—^. F. Shafroth.
Corporation Counsel. — G. C. Bartels.
Police Magistrate. — C. M. Campbell.
Health Commissioner. — W. M. Robertson.
Street Commissioner. — Theodore Griffin.
Water Commissioner. — N. K. Miller.
Building Inspector. — J. A. Mclntyre.
Sealer Weights and Measures. — S. W. Schermerhorn.
Boiler Inspector. — P. B. Eagan.
TERRITORIAL OFFICERS OF COLORADO, 1861 TO 1875.
GOVERNORS.
William Gilpin, appointed by Abraham Lincoln, July 8th, iS6i.
John Evans, appointed by Abraham Lincoln, April 19th, 1863.
Alexander Cummings, appointed by Andrew Johnson, October 17th, 1865.
A. C. Hunt, appointed by Andrew Johnson, May 27th, 1867.
Edward M. McCook, appointed by U. S. Grant, June 15th, 1869.
Samuel H. Elbert, appointed by U. S. Grant, March 9th, 1873.
Edward M. McCook, reappointed by U. S. Grant, January 27th, 1874.
John L. Routt, appointed by U. S. Grant, March 29th, 1875.
SECRETARIES.
Lewis Ledyard Weld, appomted by Abraham Lincoln, July 8th, 1861.
Samuel H. Elbert, appointed by Abraham Lincoln, April 19th, 1862.
Frank Hall, appointed by Andrew Johnson, May 2d, 1866.
Frank Hall, appointed by U. S. Grant, June 15th, 1869.
Frank Hall, reappointed by U. S. Grant, June i8th, 1873.
John W. Jenkins, appointed by U. S. Grant, January 27th, 1874.
John Taffe, appointed by U. S. Grant, August i6th, 1875.
334 APPENDIX.
TREASURERS.
George T. Clark, appointed by Governor Gilpin, November 12th, 1861.
Alexander W. Atkins, appointed by Governor Evans, March 17th, 1864.
A. C. Hunt, appointed by Governor Cummings, January 25th, 1866.
John Wanless, appointed by Governor Cummings, September 5th, 1866.
Columbus Nuckolls, appointed by Governor Hunt, December i6th, 1867.
Columbus Nuckolls, reappointed by Acting Governor Hall, March 17th, 1868.
George T. Clark, appointed by Governor McCook, February 14th, 1870.
George T. Clark, reappointed by Governor McCook, February 17th, 1872.
David H. Moffat, Jr., appointed by Governor Elbert, January 26th, 1874.
Frederick Z. Salomon, appointed by Governor Routt, February nth, 1876.
AUDITORS.
Milton M. DeLano, appointed by Governor Gilpin, November 12th, 1861.
Richard E. Whitsitt, appointed by Governor Evans, March loth, 1864.
Richard E. Whitsitt, appointed by Governor Cummings, January 26th, 1866.
Hiram J. Graham, appointed by Governor Cummings, December 13th, 1866.
Nathaniel F. Cheesman, appointed by Acting Governor Hall, January 7th, 186
James B. Thompson, appointed by Governor McCook, February 15th, 1870.
James B. Thompson, reappointed by Governor McCook, February 14th, 1874.
Levin C. Charles, appointed by Governor Elbert, January 26th, 1874.
Levin C. Charles, appointed by Governor Routt, February 12th, 1876.
SUPERINTENDENTS OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.
William J. Curtice, appointed by Governor Gilpin, November 7th, 1861.
William S. Walker, appointed by Governor Evans, Nov. 15th, 1863.
Alexander W. Atkins,* February loth, 1865.
John Wanless,* January — , 1866.
Columbus Nuckolls,* March — , 1867.
Wilbur C. Lothrop, appointed by Governor McCook, March — , 1870.
AVilbur C. Lothrop, reappointed by Governor McCook, March — , 1872.
Horace M. Hale, appointed by Governor Elbert, July 24th, 1S73.
Horace M. Hale, reappointed by Governor Elbert, January — , •1874.
Horace M. Hale, appointed by Governor Routt, February 9th, 1876.
DELEGATES TO CONGRESS.
Hiram P. Bennett, elected December 2d, 1861.
Hiram P. Bennett, re-elected October 7th, 1862.
Allen A. Bradford, elected July nth, 1864.
George M. Chilcott, elected November 14th, 1865.
George M. Chilcott, re-elected August 7th, 1866.
Allen A. Bradford, re-elected September 8th, 1868.
Jerome B. Chaffee, elected September 13th, 1870.
Jerome B. Chaffee, re-elected September loth, 1872.
Thomas M. Patterson, elected September 8th, 1874.
* Ex-officio as Territorial Treasurer.
APPENDIX. 535
JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT — CHIEF-JUSTICES.
Benjamin F. Hall, appointed by Abraham Lincoln, March 25th, 1861.
Stephen S. Harding, appointed by Abraham Lincoln, July loth, 1863.
Moses Hallett, appointed by Andrew Johnson, April loth, 1866.
Moses Hallett, appointed by U. S. Grant, April 30th, 1870.
Moses Hallett, reappointed by U. S. Grant, , 1874.
ASSOCIATE JUSTICES.
Chas. Lee Armour, appointed by Abraham Lincoln, March 28th, 1861.
S. Newton Pettis, appointed by Abraham Lincoln, July 9th, 1S61.
Allen A. Bradford, appointed by Abraham Lincoln, June 6th, 1862.
Charles F. Holly, appointed by Andrew Johnson, June loth, 1S65.
William H. Gale, appointed by Andrew Johnson, June loth, 1865.
William R. Gorsline, appointed by Andrew Johnson, June i8th, 1S66.
Christian S. Eyster, appointed by Andrew Johnson, August nth, 1866.
James B. Belford, appointed by U. S. Grant, June. 17th, 1S70.
Ebenezer T. AVells, appointed by U. S. Grant, February 8th, 187 1
James B. Belford, reappointed by U. S. Grant, , 1874.
Amherst W. Stone, appointed by U. S. Grant, March ist, 1875.
Andrew W. Brazee, appointed by U. S. Grant, February 24th, 1875.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT ATTORNEYS.
James E. Dalliba, appointed by Abraham Lincoln, , 1S61.
Samuel E. Browne, appointed by Abraham Lincoln, April 8th, 1862.
George W. Chamberlain, appointed by Andrew Johnson, October — , 1865.
H. C. Thatcher, appointed by Andrew Johnson, January — , 1868.
Lewis C. Rockwell, appointed by Andrew Johnson, May — , 1S69.
H. C. Alleman, appointed by U. S. Grant, April — , 1873.
C. D. Bradley, appointed by U. S. Grant, June 20th, 1875.
W. H. Parker, appointed December — , 1876.
W. S. Decker, appointed by U. S. Grant, January 12th, 1877.
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES.
TERRITORIAL GOVERN.MENT.
First session of the First Legislative Assembly of Colorado, convened at Denver
September 9th, and adjourned November 7th, 1861.
COUNCIL.
E. A. Arnold of Lake, President ; S. L. Baker, Secretary ; David A. Cheever,
Assistant Secretary ; E. W. Kingsbury, Sergeant-at-Arms.
H. J. Graham, Weld and Larimer Counties, First District.
Amos Steck, Arapahoe County, Second District.
Charles W. Mather, Gilpin and Boulder Counties, Third District.
536 APPENDIX.
H. F. Parker, Gilpin County, Fourtn District.
A. U. Colby, Clear Creek County, Fifth District.
S. M. Robbins, Summit County, Sixth District.
E. A. Arnold, Lake County, Seventh District.
R. B. Willis, El Paso County, Eighth District.
M. Francisco, Huerfano and Pueblo Counties, Ninth District.
REPRESENTATIVES.
Charles F. Holly of Boulder, Speaker ; F. H. Page, Chief Clerk ; E. P. Elmer,
Sergeant-at-Arms.
Daniel Steele, Weld and Larimer Counties, First District.
Charles F. Holly, Boulder County, Second District.
E. S. Wilhite, Arapahoe County, Third District.
Edwin Scudder, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Fourth District.
William A. Rankin, Gilpin County, Fifth District.
Jerome B. Chaffee, Gilpin County, Si.xth District.
James H. Noteware, Clear Creek County, Seventh District.
O. A. Whittemore,* Summit County, Eighth District.
Daniel Witter,f Park County, Ninth District.
George F. Crocker, Lake County, Tenth District.
Jose Victor Garcia, Conejos County, Eleventh District.
Jesus M. Barela, Costilla County, Twelfth District.
George M. Chilcott, Pueblo County, Thirteenth District.
Second session of the Legislative Assembly convened at Colorado City on the yth
day of July, 1862, adjourned to Denver, July nth. Adjourned sine die August 15th,
1862.
COUNCIL.
N. J. Bond, of Park, President; John Howard, Secretary; Matt. Riddlebarger,
Assistant Secretary; Amos Widner, Sergeant-at-Arms.
H. J. Graham, Weld and Larimer Counties, First District.
H. R. Hunt, Douglas, Arapahoe, Weld and Larimer Counties, First District.
Amos Steck, Arapahoe County, Second District.
Wm. A. H. Loveland, Jefferson, Clear Creek, Gilpin and Boulder Counties, Second
District.
Charles W. Mather, Gilpin County, Third District.
N. J. Bond, Park, Summit and Lake Counties, Third District.
Henry F. Parker, Gilpin County, Fourth District.
J. B. Woodson, Fremont, El Paso, Huerfano, Conejos, Costilla and Pueblo
Counties, Fourth District.
A. U. Colby, Clear Creek County, Fifth District.
Henry Altman,J: Summit, Sixth District.
*Seat unsuccessfully contested by C. P. Hall.
fSeat unsuccessfully contested by N. J- Bond.
i In place of Samuel M. Robbins resigned. R. O. Bailey unsuccessfully contested his seat.
APPENDIX. 537
E. A. Arnold, Lake County, Seventh District.
Robert B. Willis, El Paso Count)', Eighth District.
J. M. Francisco, Huerfano and Pueblo Counties, Ninth District.
REPRESENTATIVES.
George F. Crocker of Lake, Speaker; William Train Muir, Chief Clerk; E. P.
Elmer, Assistant Clerk; Richard Sopris, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Daniel Steele, Weld County, First District.
Joseph Kenyon, Larimer, Weld, Boulder, and Jefferson Counties, First District.
Charles F Holly, Boulder County, Second District.
D. C. Oakes, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
E. S. Wilhite, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Third District.
C. G. Hanscome, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Third District.
Edwin Scudder, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Fourth District.
Wm. M. Slaughter, Gilpin County, Fourth Distiict.
William A. Rankin*, Gilpin County, Fifth District.
M. B. Hayes, Gilpin County, Fifth District.
Jerome B. Chaffee, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
J. W. Hamilton, Clear Creek County, Sixth District.
James H. Noteware, Clear Creek County, Seventh District.
Wilbur F. Stone, Park County, Seventh District.
O. A. Whittemore, Summit Count)', Eighth District.
R. R. Harbour, Summit County, Eighth District.
Daniel Witter, Park County, Ninth District.
John Fosher, Lake County, Ninth District.
George F. Crocker, Lake County, Tenth District.
M. S. Beach, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Tenth District.
Jose Victor Garcia, Conejos County, Eleventh District.
Jose Raphael Martinez, Conejos County, Eleventh District.
Jesu£ M. Barela, Costilla County, Twelfth District.
Jose Francisco Gallejos, Costilla County, Twelfth District.
George M. Chilcott, Pueblo County, Thirteenth District.
D. Powell, Pueblo County, Thirteenth District.
Third session of the Legislative Assembly convened at Golden on the ist day of
February, 1864; adjourned to Denver, February 4th. Adjourned sine die March nth,
1864.
COUNCIL.
Charles W. Mather, of Gilpin, President; C. B. Haynes, Secretary; W. T. Reynolds,
Assistant Secretary; E. C. Parmelee, Engrossing Clerk; O. B. Brown, Enrolling Clerk;
C. A. Bartholomew, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Amos Widner, Boulder, Larimer and Weld Counties, First District.
Moses Hallett, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
Richard E. Whitsitt, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
* Did not appear.
538 APPENDIX.
Charles W. Mather, Gilpin County, Third District.
A. J. Van Deren, Gilpin County, Third District.
E. A. Johnson, Gilpin County, Third District.
Wm. A. H. Loveland, Clear Creek and Jefferson Counties, Fourth District.
Lewis Jones, Park County, Fifth District.
R. O. Bailey, Summit County, Si.tth District.
Robert Berry, Lake County, Seventh District.
J. B. Doyle, Pueblo, El Paso, Huerfano and Fremont, Eighth District.
C. Dominguez, Conejos County, Ninth District.
H. E. Esterday, Costilla County, Tenth District.
REPRESENTATIVES.
Jerome B. Chaffee, of Gilpin, Speaker; Baxter B. Stiles, Chief Clerk; John.
Walker, Engrossing Clerk; C. C. Carpenter, Enrolling Clerk; Richard Sopris»
Sergeant-at-Arms.
A. O. Patterson*, Weld and Larimer Counties, First District.
David A. Cheever, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
J. A. Koontz, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
John A. Nye, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
J. H. Eames, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
David Ripley, Boulder County, Third District.
James Kelley, Jefferson County, Fourth District.
Leon D. Judd, Boulder and Gilpin Counties, Fifth District.
Jerome B. Chaffee, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
John Kipp,f Gilpin County, Sixth District.
Alvin Marsh, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
Samuel Mallory,! Gilpin County, Si.xth District.
E. F. Holland, Clear Creek County, Seventh District.
J. E. Leeper, Clear Creek County, Seventh District.
M. C. White, Summit County, Eighth District.
John T. Lynch, Summit County, Eighth District.
Henry Henson, Park County, Ninth District.
J. B. Stansell, Park County, Ninth District.
Joel Wood, Lake County, Tenth District.
J. McCannon, Lake County, Tenth District.
Pablo Ortega, Conejos County, Eleventh District.
Jose Victor Garcia, Conejos County, Eleventh District.
N. W. Welton, Costilla and Huerfano Counties, Twelfth District.
B. J. McComas,§ Costilla and Huerfano Counties, Twelfth District.
L. D. Webster, Fremont County, Thirteenth District.
A. Z. Sheldon, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Fourteenth District.
*Did not appear.
] Resigned.
i Did not appear.
§ Did not appear.
APPENDIX. 539
The Fourth session of the Legislative Assembly convened at Golden, January 2d,
and adjourned February loth, 1S65.
COUNCIL.
J. Wentz Wilson, of Gilpin, President; Ozias Millett, Secretary; James O. Allen,
Assistant Secretary; W. B. Felton, Enrolling Clerk; W. Adams, Engrossing Clerk;
Marshall Silverthorn, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Amos Widner, Boulder, Larimer and Weld Counties, First District.
Moses Hallett, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
Richard E. Whitsitt,* Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
J. Wentz Wilson, Gilpin County, Third District.
George R. Mitchell, Gilpin County, Third District.
E. K. Baxter, Gilpin County, Third District.
Wm. A. H. Loveland, Clear Creek and Jefferson Counties, Fourth District.
Lewis Jones.f Park County, Fifth District.
H. L. Pearson, Summit County, Sixth District.
Robert Berry, Lake County, Seventh District.
Robert B. Willis, Pueblo, El Paso, Huerfano and Fremont Counties, Eighth
District.
C. Dominguez, Conejos County, Ninth District.
H. E. Esterday,^: Costilla County, Tenth District.
REPRESENTATIVES.
L. H. Harsh of Gilpin, Speaker; C. H. Grover, Chief Clerk; N. S. Hurd, En-
grossing Clerk; A. D. Cooper, Enrolling Clerk; Henry Gibson, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Weld and Larimer Counties, First District.
Hiram J. Brendlinger, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
Rufus Clark, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
Baxter B. Stiles, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
F. M. Case,§ Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
D. H. Nichols, Boulder County, Third District.
A. O. Patterson, Jefferson County, Fourth District.
Thomas D. Woriall, Boulder and Gilpin Counties, Fifth District.
L. H. Harsh, Gilpin County, Si.xth District.
Benjamin Lake, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
A. Mansur, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
C. M. Tyler, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
E. F. Holland, Clear Creek County, Seventh District.
B. F. Pine, Clear Creek County, Seventh District.
John T. Lynch, Summit County, Eighth District.
A. Hopkins, Summit County, Eighth District.
*Absent during session.
\ Absent during session.
I .-\bsent during session.
8 Did not take his seat.
540 APPENDIX.
Wilbur F. Stone, Park County, Ninth District.
James Tliompson, Parle County, Ninth District.
C. North, Lake County, Tenth District.
J. G. Ehrhart, Lake County, Tenth District.
Conejos County, Eleventh District.
Conejos County, Eleventh District.
Costilla and Huerfano Counties, Twelfth District.
Costilla and Huerfano Counties, Twelfth District.
Mills M. Craig, Fremont County, Thirteenth District.
O. H. P. Baxter,* Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Fourteenth District.
Fifth session of the Legislative Assembly convened at Golden, on the first day ^.
January, 1866, adjourned to Denver, January 4th, and adjourned sine die February
9th, 1866.
COUNCIL.
Henry C. Leach of Arapahoe, President; Charles G. Cox, Secretary; George H.
Stillwell, Assistant Secretary; Benjamin P. Thompson, Engrossing Clerk; N. F.
Cheesman, Enrolling Clerk; Marshall Silverthorn, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Joseph M. Marshall, Boulder, Larimer and Weld Counties, First District.
Henry C. Leach, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
John Q. Charles, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
George R. Mitchell, Gilpin County, Third District.
Ebenezer Smith, Gilpin County, Third District.
Benjamin Woodbury, Gilpin County, Third District.
Wm. A. H. Loveland, Clear Creek and Jefferson Counties, Fourth District.
Robert Douglas, Park County, Fifth District.
George W. Mann, Summit County, Sixth District.
H. H. DeMary, Lake County, Seventh District.
O. H. P. Baxter, Pueblo, El Paso, Huerfano and Fremont Counties, Eighth
District.
Jesus Maria Velasquez, Conejos County, Ninth District.
George A. Hinsdale, Costilla County, Tenth District.
REPRESENT ATI V2S.
E. Norris Stearns of Park, Speaker; C. J. McDivitt, Chief Clerk; A. D. Cooper,
Enrolling Clerk; A. Hopkins, Engrossing Clerk; Charles Bartholomew, Sergeant-at-
Arms.
B. F. Johnson, Weld and Larimer Counties, First District.
David Gregory, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
Louis F. Bartels, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
James F. Gardner, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
H. J. Graham, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
S. M. Breath, Boulder County, Third District.
Did not take his seat until February ist.
APPENDIX. 541
T. C. Bergen, Jefferson County, Fourth District.
Parley Dodge, Boulder and Gilpin Counties, Fifth District.
Frank Hall, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
Columbus Nuckolls,* Gilpin County, Si.xth District.
C. M. Grimes, f Gilpin County, Sixth District.
J. W. Watson, I Gilpin County, Si.xth District.
David J. Ball, Clear Creek County, Seventh District.
B. R. Colvin, Clear Creek County, Seventh District.
John Fosher, Summit County, Eighth District.
A. D. Bevans,§ Summit County, Eighth District.
E. Norris Stearns, Park County, Ninth District.
George W. Norris, Park County, Ninth District.
Thomas Keys, Lake County, Tenth District.
J. G. Ehrhart, Lake County, Tenth District.
Jose Gabriel Martine, Conejos and Costilla Counties, Eleventh District.
M. Mandrigan, Conejos and Costilla Counties, Eleventh District.
Jesus Maria Barela, Conejos and Costilla Counties, Eleventh District.
Matt. Riddlebarger, Huerfano County, Twelfth District.
William Lock, Fremont County, Thirteenth District.
John W. Henry, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Fourteenth District.
Sixth session of the Legislative Assembly, convened at Golden, December 3d,
1866, and adjourned January nth, 1867.
Robert Douglas, of Park, President ; Robert Berry, Secretary; J. A. Miller,
Assistant Secretary; N. F. Cheesman, Enrolling Clerk; William B. Rines, Engrossing
Clerk; B. R. Wall, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Joseph M. Marshall, Boulder, Larimer and Weld, First District.
John Q. Charles, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
Henry C. Leach, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
George R. Mitchell, Gilpin County, Third District.
Benjamin Woodbury, Gilpin County, Third District.
Ebenezer Smith, Gilpin County, Third District.
Wm. A. H. Loveland, Clear Creek and Jefferson Counties, Fourth District
Robert Douglas, Park County, Fifth District.
George W. Mann, Summit County, Sixth District.
H. H. DeMary, Lake County, Seventh District.
O. H. P. Baxter, Pueblo, El Paso, Huerfano and Fremont Counties, Eighth
District.
Jesus Maria Velasquez, Conejos County, Ninth District.
George A. Hinsdale, Costilla County, Tenth District.
* In place of .\. Mansur. t Did not take his seat.
t In place of Ira Austin. § Did not take his seat.
542 APPENDIX.
REPRESENTATIVES.
E. L. Berthoud of Jefferson, Speaker; C. J. McDivitt, Chief Clerk; W. J. Kram,
Assistant Clerk; Root, Engrossing Clerk; Grey, Enrolling Clerk; E. H.
Browne, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Peter Winne, Weld and Larimer Counties, First District.
C. H. McLaughlin, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
Edwin Scudder, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
J. E. Force, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
C. J. Goss, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
James S. Doggett, Boulder County, Third District.
E. L. Berthoud, Jefferson County, Fourth District.
J. E. Parkman, Boulder and Gilpin Counties, Fifth District.
Columbus Nuckolls, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
E. T. Wells, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
J. Y. Glendinen, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
C. M. Grimes, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
Charles B. Patterson, Clear Creek County, Seventh District.
R. W. Davis,* Clear Creek County, Seventh District.
Ziba Surles, Summit County, Eighth District.
W. W. Webster, Summit County, Eighth District.
Charles L. Hall, Park County, Ninth District.
F. C. Morse, Park County, Ninth District,
Julius C. Hughes, Lake County, Tenth District.
Jacob E. Ehrhart, Lake County, Tenth District.
Juan B. Lobato, Conejos and Costilla Counties, Eleventh District.
S. Valdez, Conejos and Costilla Counties, Eleventh District.
Juan Miguel Vijil, Conejos and Costilla Counties, Eleventh District.
Matt Riddlebarger,f Huerfano County Twelfth District.
M. Mills Craig, Fremont County, Thirteenth District.
W. H. Young, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Fourteenth District.
Seventh session of the Legislative Assembly convened at Golden, December, 2d
1867 ; adjourned to Denver, December 9th. Adjourned sine die January loth, 1868.
William W. Webster of Summit, President; Ed. C. Parmelee, Secretary; W. J.
Kram, Assistant Secretary; E. R. Harris, Engrossing Clerk; A. Hopkins, Enrolling
Clerk; Ziba Surles, Sergeant-at-Arms.
James H. Pinkerton, Boulder, Larimer and Weld Counties, First District.
Amos Steck, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
Charles A. Cook, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
Hugh Butler, Gilpin County, Third District.
* Seat unsuccessfully contested by D. J.
f Seat unsuccessfully contested by John
APPENDIX. 643
David D. Belden, Gilpin County, Third District.
J. Wellington Nesmith, Gilpin County, Third District.
Wm. A. H. Loveland, Clear Creek and Jefferson Counties, Fourth District.
E. Norris Stearns, Park County, Fifth District.
William W. Webster, Summit County, Si.xth District.
Julius C. Hughes, Lake County, Seventh District.
B. B. Field,* Pueblo, El Paso, Huerfano and Fremont Counties, Eighth District.
Jesus Maria Velasquez, Conejos, Ninth District.
Francisco Sanchez, Costilla County, Tenth District.
REPRESENTATIVES.
C. H. McLaughlin of Arapahoe, Speaker; C. J. McDivitt, Chief Clerk; M. L.
Horr, Assistant Clerk; Joseph Sharratt, Engrossing Clerk; A. Cree, Enrolling Clerk;
Charles F. Leimer, Assistant Enrolhng Clerk; Wells, Sergeant-at-Arms.
H. Stratton, Weld and Larimer Counties, First District.
C. H. McLaughlin, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
Ba.xter B. Stiles, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
J. E. Wurtzebach, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
G. W. Miller, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
H. L. Pearson, Boulder County, Third District.
F. O. Sawin, Jefferson County, Fourth District.
T. Haswell, Boulder and Gilpin Counties, Fifth District.
D. M. Richards, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
S. F. Huddleston. Gilpin County, Sixth District.
C. R. Bissell, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
W. M. Slaughter, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
J. C. McCoy, Clear Creek County, Seventh District.
J. E. Wharton, Clear Creek County, Seventh District.
Stephen Decatur, Summit County, Eighth District.
J. A. Pierce, Summit County, Eighth District.
Ansel Bates, Park County, Ninth District.
W. J. McDougal, Park County, Ninth District.
J. Gilliland, Lake County, Tenth District.
B. Fowler, Lake County, Tenth District.
J. Lawrence, Conejos and Costilla Counties, Eleventh District.
Pablo Ortega, Conejos and Costilla Counties, Eleventh District.
Silverio Suaso, Conejos and Costilla Counties, Eleventh District.
Thomas Suaso, f Huerfano County, Twelfth District.
Thomas Macon, Fremont County, Thirteenth District.
E. T. Stone, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Fourteenth District.
Eighth session of the Legislative Assembly convened at Denver January 3d, and
adjourned February nth, 1870.
* Seat successfully contested by George A. Hinsdale.
fSeat unsuccessfully contested by Michael Beslioar.
544 APPENDIX.
George A. Hinsdale, President; A. O. Patterson, Secretary; George T. Clark,
Assistant Secretary; J. E. Cobb, Engrossing Clerk; Henry Bell, Enrolling Clerk; E. T.
Stone, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Jesse M. Sherwood,* Boulder, Larimer and Weld Counties, First District.
Amos Steck, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
Charles A. Cook, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
Hugh Butler, Gilpin County, Third District.
Silas B. Hahn.ft Gilpin County, Third District.
J. Wellington Nesmith, Gilpin County, Third District.
Wm. A. H. Loveland, Clear Creek and Jefferson Counties, Fourth District.
E. Norris Stearns, Park County, Fifth District.
William W. Webster, Summit County, Sixth District.
Julius C. Hughes, Lake County, Seventh District.
George A. Hinsdale, Pueblo, El Paso, Huerfano and Fremont Counties, Eighth
District.
Jesus Maria Velasquez, Conejos County, Ninth District.
Francisco Sanchez, Costilla County, Tenth District.
REPRESENTATIVES.
George W. Miller, Speaker; Wm. M. Slaughter, Chief Clerk; A. M. Barnard,
Assistant Clerk: Thomas .\. McCrystal, Engrossing Clerk; John D. Mclntyre, En-
rolling Clerk; W. W. Remine, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Matthew S. Taylor, Weld and Larimer Counties, First District.
George W. Miller, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
Samuel H. Elbert. Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
H. B. Bearce, .\rapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
C. C. Gird, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
John H. Wells, Boulder County, Third District.
Allison H. DeFrance, Jefferson County, Fourth District.
Thomas J. Graham, Boulder and Gilpin Counties, Fifth District.
Thomas J. Campbell, Gilpin County, Si.xth District.
H. E. Lyon, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
A. E. Lea, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
John F. Topping, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
John T. Lynch, Clear Creek Count)', Seventh District.
D. B. Myers, Clear Creek County, Seventh District.
George W. iMann, Summit County, Eighth District.
A. D. Bevan, Summit County, Eighth District.
C. M. Mullen, Park County, Ninth District.
J. G. Randall, Park County, Ninth District.
* Vice James H. Pinkerton, resigned.
fVice D. D. Belden, resigned.
t Seat successfully contested by William M. Roworth.
APPENDIX. 545
D. L. Vandiver, Lake County, Tenth District.
J. C. Hall, Lake County, Tenth District.
Manuel Lucero, Conejos, Costilla and Saguache Counties, Eleventh District.
Clement Trugillo, Conejos, Costilla and Saguache Counties, Eleventh District.
William H. Meyer, Conejos, Costilla and Saguache Counties, Eleventh District.
Filipe Baca, Huerfano and Las .\nimas Counties, Twelfth District.
William Sheppard, Fremont County, Thirteenth District.
James Rice, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Fourteenth District.
Ninth session of the Legislative Assembly convened at Denver January ist, and
adjourned February 9th, 1872.
COUNCIL.
George M. Chilcott of Pueblo, President ; Edward L. Salisbury, Secretary; Chase
Withrow, Assistant Secretary ; E. H. Starrette, Engrossing Clerk; S. N. Sanders,
Enrolling Clerk; Robert N. Daniels, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Joseph E. Bates, Arapahoe County, First District.
Francis Gallup, Arapahoe County, First District.
William C. Stover, Weld and Larimer Counties, Second District.
.\llison H. DeFrance, Jefferson and Bolder Counties, Third District.
Nathaniel P. Hill, Gilpin County, Fourth District.
Benjamin W. Wisebart, Gilpin County, Fourth District.
Edward C. Parmelee, Clear Creek and Summit Counties, Fifth District.
Madison W. Stewart, Greenwood, Bent and Douglas Counties, Si.xth District.
George M. Chilcott, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Seventh District.
J. Marshall Paul, Park, Lake, Saguache and Fremont Counties, Eighth District.
Jesus Maria Garcia, Las Animas County, Ninth District.
Silverio Suaso, Huerfano County, Tenth District.
Jose Victor Garcia, Conejos and Costilla Counties, Eleventh District.
REPRESENT.\TIVES.
Alvin Marsh of Gilpin, Speaker; James G. Cooper, Chief Clerk; Joseph T. Boyd,
Assistant Clerk; Rollin Morrow, Engrossing Clerk; C. W. Baldwin, Enrolling Clerk;
Uriah M. Curtis, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Frederick Steinhauer, Arapahoe County, First District.
Isaac H. Batchellor, Arapahoe County, First District.
Clarence P. Elder, Arapahoe County, First District.
John G. Lilley, .Arapahoe County, First District.
J. W. Bacon, Weld and Larimer Counties, Second District.
B. H. Eaton, Weld and Larimer Counties, Second District.
John D. Patrick, Jefferson County, Third District.
James P. Maxwell, Boulder County, Fourth District.
Charles C. Welch, Jefferson and Boulder Counties, Fifth District.
Alvin Marsh, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
George E. Randolph, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
35 "
54(i APPENDIX.
John F. Topping, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
W. W. Webster, Clear Creek and Summit Counties, Seventh District.
James F. Gardner, Douglas County, Eighth District.
Thomas O. Boggs,* Bent and Greenwood Counties, Ninth District.
J. M. Givens, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Tenth District.
B. F. Croweli, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Tenth District.
A. D. Cooper, Fremont, Park, Lake and Saguache Counties, Eleventh District.
John G. Randall, Fremont, Park, Lake and Saguache Counties, Eleventh District.
Casimero Barela, Las Animas County, Twelfth District.
Lorenzo A. Abeyta,f Las Animas County, Twelfth District.
Mariano Larragoite, Las Animas County, Twelfth District.
John A. Manzanares, Huerfano County, Thirteenth District.
Pedro Raphael Trujillo, Costilla County, Fourteenth District.
Jose A. Velasquez, Conejos County, Fifteenth District.
Francisco Sanchez, Conejos and Costilla Counties, Sixteenth District.
Tenth session of the Legislative Assembly convened at Denver, on the 5th day of
January, and adjourned February 13th, 1874.
COUNCIL.
Madison W. Stewart of Bent, President ; Foster Nichols, Secretary; D. C. Lion-
berger, Assistant Secretary; George H. F. Work, Enrolling Clerk; George R. Ward,
Sergeant-at-Arms.
H. P. H. Bromwell, Arapahoe County, First District.
R. G. Buckingham, Arapahoe County, First District.
Thomas Sprague, Weld and Larimer Counties, Second District.
John B. Fitzpatrick. Jefferson and Boulder Counties, Third District.
Hugh Butler, Gilpin County, Fourth District.
H. C. McCammon, Gilpin County, Fourth District.
William M. Clark, Clear Creek and Summit Counties, Fifth District.
Madison W. Stewart, Greenwood, Bent and Douglas Counties, Si,xth District.
George M. Chilcott, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Seventh District.
Jairus W. Hall, Park, Lake, Saguache and Fremont Counties, Eighth District.
Daniel L. Taylor, Las Animas County, Ninth District.
Juan B. Jaquez, Huerfano County, Tenth District.
Lafayette Head, Costilla and Conejos Counties, E'eventh District.
REPRESENTATIVES.
David H. Nichols of Boulder, Speaker; Jos. T. Boyd, Chief Clerk; E. P. Drake,
Assistant Clerk; J. A. Koontz, Engrossing Clerk; O. H. Henry, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Frederick Steinhauer, Arapahoe County, First District.
Alfred Butters, Arapahoe County, First District.
R. S. Little, Arapahoe County, First District.
* Absent during session.
f A. W. Archibald successfully contested his seat.
APPENDIX. Sir
J. H. K. Uhlhorn. Arapahoe County, First District.
Joseph C. Shattuck, Weld and Larimer Counties, Second District.
John McCutcheon, Weld and I,arimer Counties, Second District.
Levi Harsh, Jefferson County, Third District.
James P. Maxwell, Boulder County, Fourth District.
David H. Nichols, Jefferson and Boulder Counties, Fifth District.
Henry Paul, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
Bela S. Buell, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
William J. Bufifington, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
Benjamin F. Napheys, Clear Creek and Summit Counties, Seventh District.
Charles W. Perry, Douglas County, Eighth District.
John W. Prowers, Bent and Greenwood Counties, Ninth District.
Joseph C. Wilson, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Tenth District.
William Moore, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Tenth District.
Joseph Hutchinson, Fremont, Park, Lake and Saguache Counties, Eleventh
District.
William A. Amsbary, Fremont, Park, Lake and Saguache Counties, Eleventh
District.
Mariano Larragoite, Las Animas County, Twelfth District.
Casimiro Barela, Las Animas County, Twelfth District.
Alexander H. Taylor, Las Animas County, Twelfth District.
J. A. J. Valdez, Huerfano County, Thirteenth District.
William H. Meyer, Costilla County, Fourteenth District.
Manuel S. Salazar, Conejos County, Fifteenth District.
Juan Esquibel, Costilla and Conejos Counties, Sixteenth District.
Eleventh session of the Legislative Assembly, convened at Denver on the 3d day
of January, and adjourned February iith, 1876.
Adair Wilson of Rio Grande, President; James T. Smith, Secretary; Frank Fossett,
Assistant Secretary; James D. Henry, Engrossing Clerk; William Borchert, Enrolling
Clerk; J. A. J. Bigler, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Bela M. Hughes, Arapahoe County, First District.
Baxter B. Stiles, Arapahoe County, First District.
B. H. Eaton, Weld and Larimer Counties, Second District.
John C. Hummel, Boulder and Jefferson Counties, Third District.
Silas B. Hahn, Gilpin County, Fourth District.
E. L. Salisbury, Gilpin County, Fourth District.
R. S. Morrison, Clear Creek, Summit and Grand Counties, Fifth District.
Andrew D. Wilson, Douglas, Bent and Elbert Counties, Sixth District.
James Rice, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Seventh District.
James Clelland, Fremont, Park, Lake and Saguache Counties, Eighth District.
P. A. McBride, Las Animas County, Ninth District.
Silverio Suaso, Huerfano County, Tenth District.
548 APPENDIX.
Adair Wilson, Costilla, Conejos, Rio Grande, Hinsdale and La Plata Counties
Eleventh District.
REPRESENTATIVES.
Alfred Butters of Arapahoe, Speaker; Joseph T. Boyd, Chief Clerk; C. L. Peyton,
Assistant Clerk; James W. Galloway, Engrossing Clerk; VV. B. Dickinson, Enrolling
Clerk; James D. Wood, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Alfred Butters, Arapahoe County, First District.
Edmund L. Smith, Arapahoe County, First District.
Edward Pisko, Arapahoe County, First District.
W. B. Mills, Arapahoe County, First District.
Norman H. Meldrum, Weld and Larimer Counties, Second District.
J. C. McCowan* Weld and Larimer Counties, Second District.
M. N. Everett, Jefferson County, Third District.
David C. Patterson, Boulder County, Fourth District.
George Rand, Jefferson and Boulder Counties, Fifth District.
John C. McShane, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
Frederick Kruse, Gilpin County, Si.xth District.
William Larned, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
John H. Yonley, Clear Creek, Summit and Grand Counties, Seventh District.
J. M. Nimerick, Douglas and Elbert Counties, Eighth District.
Frank Bingham, Bent County, Ninth District.
Albinus Z. Sheldon, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Tenth District.
H. O. Rettberg, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Tenth District.
James Y. Marshall, Fremont, Park, Lake and Saguache Counties, Eleventh District.
•I. N. Peyton, Fremont, Park, Lake, and Saguache Counties, Eleventh District.
Donaciano Gurule, Las Animas County, Twelfth District.
Nicanora D. Jarramilla, Las Animas County, Twelfth District.
Manrico Apadaca, Las Animas County, Twelfth District.
Herman Duhme, Jr., Huerfano County, Thirteenth District.
Francisco Sanchez, Costilla County, Fourteenth District.
T. M. Trippe, Conejos, Rio Grande, Hinsdale, and La Plata Counties, Fifteenth
District.
Reuben J. McNutt, Conejos, Costilla, Rio Grande, Hinsdale and La Plata Counties,
Sixteenth District.
A Constitutional Convention assembled at Denver on the 8th of August, 1865,
and adjourned August 12th, having framed a Constitution which was submitted to a
vote of the people on the first Tuesday of September, 1865, and the same was adopted
by a majority of one hundred and fifty-five votes.
The Convention was composed of the following named gentlemen:
W. A. H. Loveland, President; Webster D. Anthony of Arapahoe, Secretary.
Samuel E. Browne, Arapahoe County.
Absent during the whole session.
APPENDIX.
John Q. Charles, Arapahoe County.
J. Bright Smith, Arapahoe County.
James M. Cavanaugh, Arapahoe County.
Richard Sopris, Arapahoe County.
Joseph M. Brown, Arapahoe County.
George T. Clark, Arapahoe County.
John A. Koontz, Arapahoe County.
D. H. Goodwin, Arapahoe County.
A. C. Hunt, Arapahoe Count}'.
Charles A. Cook, Arapahoe County.
G. W. Miller, Arapahoe County.
David H. Nichols, Boulder County.
P. M. Hinman, Boulder County.
D. Pound, Boulder, Weld and Larimer Counties.
A. Lumry, Boulder, Weld and Larimer Counties.
W. E. Sisty, Clear Creek County.
J. T. Herrick, Clear Creek County.
Robert White, Clear Creek County.
Charles B. Patterson, Clear Creek County.
John Lock, Clear Creek County.
D. P. Wilson, Fremont County.
E. S. Perrin, Gilpin County.
William E. Darby, Gilpin County.
B. C. Waterman, Gilpin County.
Rodney French, Gilpin County.
A. J. Van Deren, Gilpin County.
H. F. Powell, Gilpin County.
Iv. H. Judd, Gilpm County.
C. W. Mather, Gilpin County.
B. F. Lake, Gilpin County.
G. E. Randolph, Gilpin County.
W. S. Rockwell, Gilpin County.
O. J. HoUister, Gilpin County.
W. R. Gorsline, Gilpin County.
Truman Whitcomb, Gilpin County.
G. B. Backus, Gilpin County.
W. A. H. Loveland, Jefferson County.
T. C. Bergen, Jefferson County.
T. P. Boyd, Jefferson County.
H. H. DeMary, Lake County.
N. F. Cheesman, Lake County.
C. Nachtrieb, Lake County.
Harrison Anderson, Lake County.
John McCannon, Lake County.
Thomas Keys, Lake County.
560 APPENDIX.
W. J. Curtice, Park County.
Alex. Hatch, Park County.
Alfred DuBois, Park County.
Henry Hanson, Park County.
J. D. Parmelee, Park County.
George W. Lechner, Park County.
H. B. Haskell, Summit County.
John T. Lynch, Summit County.
G. W. Coffin, Weld and Larimer Counties.
J. E. Washburn, Weld and Larimer Counties.
F. Merrill, First Regiment Colorado Cavalry.
J. L. Pritchard, Second Regiment Colorado Cavalry.
G. W. Hawkins, First Regiment Colorado Cavalry.
C. C. Hawley, First Regiment Colorado Cavalry.
B. F. Pine.
W. G. Reid.
The State Legislature convened at Golden, December 12th, 1865, adjourned to
Denver December i6th, and adjourned sine die, December 19th, 1865.
George A. Hinsdale, Lieutenant Governor, President; John Walker, Secretary;
Edwin H. Brown, Assistant Secretary; H. B. Haskell, Sergeant-at-Arms.
Leander M. Black, Boulder, Larimer and Weld Counties, First District.
Charles A. Cook, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
L. B. McLain, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
Truman Whitcomb, Gilpin County, Third District.
L. L. Bedell, Gilpin County, Third District.
A. G. Langford, Gilpin County, Third District.
W. A. H. Loveland, Clear Creek and Jefferson Counties, Fourth District.
James Costello, Park County, Fifth District.
Adam B. Cooper, Summit County, Sixth District.
H. H. De Mary, Lake County, Seventh District.
John W. Henry, Pueblo, El Paso, Huerfano and Fremont Counties, Eighth
District.
Jesus M. Velasquez, Conejos County, Ninth District.
J. L. Gasper, Costilla County, Tenth District.
REPRESENTATIVES.
D. P. Wilson of Fremont, Speaker; L. H. Shepherd, Chief Clerk; C. J. McDivitt,
Assistant Clerk; Charles Bartholomew, Sergeant-at-Arms.
A. Lumry, Weld and Larimer Counties, First District.
Robert L. Hatten, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties. Second District.
G. H. Greenslit, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
William Garrison, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
APPENDIX. 551
D. G. Peabody, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, Second District.
A. Wright, Boulder County, Third District.
T. C. Bergen,* Jefferson County, Fourth District.
David H. Nichols, Boulder and Gilpin Counties, Fifth District.
Isaac Wicher, Gilpin County, Si.xth District.
J. E. Scobey, Gilpin County, Si.xth District.
Stephen Goodall, Gilpin County, Sixth District.
L. W. Chase, Gilpin County, Si.xth District.
C. B. Patterson, Clear Creek County, Seventh District.
B. R. Colvin, Clear Creek County, Seventh District.
James A. Pierce, Summit County, Eighth District.
Aaron Hopkins, Summit County, Eighth District.
George W. Lechner, Park County, Ninth District.
Charles L. Hall, Park County, Ninth District.
Thomas Keys, Lake County, Tenth District.
T. C. Hughes, Lake County, Tenth District.
Pedro Arragon, Conejos County, Eleventh District.
Jose Gabriel Martine, Conejos County, Eleventh District.
Pedro Lobato, Costilla and Huerfano Counties, Twelfth District.
Matt Riddlebarger, Costilla and Huerfano Counties, Twelfth District. .
D. P. Wilson, Fremont County, Thirteenth District.
George A. Bute, Pueblo and El Paso Counties, Fourteenth District.
COLORADO PIONEERS.
The list following was taken from the records of the Colorado Pioneers' Asso-
ciation of Denver. While it is incomplete, owing to the fact that a very large number
have not signed the roll, it is the best obtainable:
NAME. RESIDENCE. ARRIVAL. BIRTHPLACE AND DATE.
C. S. Abbott Denver May, i860 Mass., Aug. 12, 1832.
T. J. Almy Salt Lake May 28, 1859... R. I., April 7, 1836.
C. G. Anderson. ... Fairplay Jul}', i860 Sweden, June 22, 1841. Dead.
J. C. Anderson. . . .Denver May, i860 New York, April 19, 1837.
T. G. Anderson Denver June 9, 1859 Ohio, Aug. 28, 1832.
F. L. Andre Denver June 15, 1859. . .Aug. 2, 1835.
J. W. Anthony Buena Vista June, 1859
W. D. Anthony. . . .Denver June 8, i860. . . .New York, June 4, 1838.
S. J. Anthony Denver March 13, i860 .New York, July 22, 1830.
J. Armor Denver Aug. 17, 1859.. .Ireland, Dec. 27, 1826.
W. D. Arnett BearCreek June 16, 1859.. .Ohio, Nov. 6, 1828.
■ Seat contested by Simcn Cort.
552
APPENDIX.
NAME. RESIDENCE.
Wm. Ashley Pine Grove
John Atkinson Denver
Geo. Aux Colorado Spring
J. W. Austin Denver June 14, 1859.
H. C. Allebaugh. . . Denver May 2 1 , 1 860 .
G.B.Allen Golden Sept., 1858...
Chas. Anderson. . . .Denver June 7, i860. .
J. A. Babb Denver May 20, 1 860 .
L. W. Bacon Denver July 4, 1859 .
A. W. Bailey Denver May 10, i860.
A. Baker Denver March, i860. .
N. A. Baker Denver March, 1 860 . .
M. A. Baldwin Platte River June 15, i860.
W. E. Baldwin Denver June 15, i860
C. D. Baldwin North Park June, i860 N. Y., Oct. 25, 1825.
G. W. Bancroft Denver June 15, 1857.. Mo., May 12, 1832.
G. C. Banning Denver May 12, i860. . .Ohio, July 9, 1836.
A. H. Barker Denver Oct. 15, 1858.. .Ohio, Nov. 23, 1822.
David Barnes Loveland May i, i860 111., Oct. 2, 1821.
Wm. Barnes Denver Aug., 1859 111., Sept. 25, 1835.
ARRIVAL. BIRTHPLACE AND DATE.
June, i860 Ohio, July 22, 1826.
May 21, i860. . .England, May 11, 1817.
May, 1859 Pa., Aug. II, 1837.
.Mass., June 4, 1832.
.Ind., July 29, 1852.
.N.Y., May 17, 1825.
.Sweden, Sept. i, 1826.
.N. H., Feb. 10, 1837.
.Pa., Jan. i, 1834.
.N. v., Dec. 20, 1835.
.N. v., March 24, 1816.
.New York.
.111., Jan. IS, 1858.
.111., Oct. 17, 1824.
Denver May 7, 1859 Vermont, Aug. 13, 1829.
Longmont July 9, 1859 ... .Ohio.
.Denver April, 1859
.Denver June 27, i860.
.Tenn., Oct. 8, 1834.
N. Y., May 5, 1835.
Denver May, 1 860 Mo., May 26, 1 830.
.Denver Oct,, 1857
.Aspen May 26, i860
.Denver July 16, 1859
. Denver May 10, i860.
.... May,
L. Barney....
Wm. M. Barney
G. W. Barrett.
Jos. E. Bates. .
H. B. Bearce..
W. B. Beatty . .
C. R. Bell ....
CHfton Bell...
E. M. Bell....
L. Bell Fountain
Van C. Bell Denver May 26, i860
E.G. Bennett Denver June 24, 186
Wm. Bemrose Denver Oct. 5,1859.
H. P. Bennet Denver Oct. 5, 1859 Maine, Sept. 2, 1826.
L. W. Berry Idaho Springs May, 1859 N. Y., Dec. i, 1822.
J. C.Bertolette Deer Creek May 5, 1858 Pa., Dec. 13, 1837.
Fred Bertroff Cherry Creek Nov. 5, 1858 Germany, Jan. 31, 1832
G. N. Billings Denver July, i860 N. Y., 1836.
C. H. Blair Breckenridge .May 11, i860... .Ohio, Aug. 11, 1835.
C. S. Blake Denver Sept., i860 Mass., May 7, 1838.
Chas. Bledsoe Summit Co. Dec, 1858 Mo., Nov. 17, 1842.
Jos. Block Oct., 1S59 France, Sept., 1830.
L. W. Borton Clyde, Kan June, 1859 Ohio, Sept. i, 1832.
Reuben Borton Marion, 111 June, 1859 Ohio, Nov. 17, 1822.
Ohio, 1838.
Ohio, March 20, 1853.
April 17, 1840.
Ind., Oct. 23, 1835. Dead.
860 111., March 17, 1837.
la., Nov. 3, 1859.
Mass., 1808.
Feb. 12,1836.
APPENDIX. 553
NAME. RESIDENCE. ARRIVAL. BIRTHPLACE AND DATE.
Jas. L. Boutwell.. .Denver June 8, 1859 N. Y., Oct. 27, 1829.
John Boylan Black Hawk Oct., 1858 Ohio, Feb. 3, 1840.
T. C. Brainard Boulder Jan. 15, 1859 . . .Ohio, Feb. 7, 1843.
J. H. Bradstreet. . .Denver May 18, 1859. . .Me., May 6, 1832.
G. G. Brewer Denver May, i860 Mass., Oct. 16, 1836.
Henry Briggs Denver June, i860 N. Y., Oct. 3, 1827.
J. M. Broad well Denver Apr. 2, 1859 May 6, 1827.
A. A. Brookfield.. .Boulder Oct., 1858 N. J., Jan. 31, 1830.
Elias Brown Denver May 6, 1859. . . .New Jersey.
J. M. Brown .\rapahoe Co June, 1859 Md., May 16, 1832.
G. W. Brown June 15, 1859. .
S. R. Brown Littleton Colo., Mar. 21, 1 860.
J. F. Butler July 18, i860...
C. S. Burdsal Denver May 18, 1859.. .Ohio, July 23, 1808.
W. N. Burnes Denver i860 1836.
W. N. Byers Denver April 8, 1859 Ohio, Feb. 22, 1831.
A. A. Bradford ...Pueblo June 10, i860.. .Me., July 23, 1815.
John Bennett Littleton May 15, i860. . .England, 1820.
J. A. Barker Denver Aug. 19, 1860...N. Y., Jan. 22, 1831.
Alfred Butters Denver June 14, i860.. .Me., May 27, 1836.
G. H. Bressler Breckenridge May 14, 1859. ..Ohio, June 16, 1836.
Alden Bassett Del Norte
J. H. Batchelor Denver May 27, i860.. .Me., Apr. 25, 1828.
O. P. Bassett Leadville June 18, 1860....N. Y., Jan. 16, 1827.
J. Blanchard Denver June 22, 1859... N. Y., July 18, 1833.
Anthony Bott Colo. City Oct. 10, 1858. . .Alsace, France.
J. L. Bailey Denver June 10, 1859.. .Pa, Aug. 15, 1835.
G. T. Bugh Cotton Creek May, i860 Ohio, Dec. 28, 1828.
A. K. Brown Chapman, Colo May, i860 Pa., May 28, 1832.
J. H. Brown Golden May 27, i860.. .III., Nov. 5, 1837.
F. S. Byers Hot Sulph. Springs.Aug. 7, 1859 Neb., Oct. 16, 1855.
C. A. Bartholomew.. Breckenridge Apr. 17, 1859. ..Ohio, July 17, 1839.
G. W. Bennett Denver Oct. 5, 1859 Pa., Aug. 4, 1836.
J. H. Baugh Longmont June i, 1859 Mo., Feb. 6, 1832.
T. C. Bergen Morrison June 23, 1859... Ind., June 8, 1820.
A. S. Babcock Littleton June 25, 1859. ...Conn., Feb 20, 1838.
A. W. Brownell Denver May 24, i860 Wis., July 5, 1839.
M. D. Balsmger.. ..Bald Mt June 15, i860 Pa., Dec. 22, 1830.
J. L. Brush Greeley June 3, 1859 Ohio, July 6, 1S37.
Robt. Boyd Greeley May 22, 1859 Mass., Sept. 21, 1837.
B. S. Buell Central City May 6, 1860....N. H., Jan. 26, 1836.
Daniel Banta Denver June i, 1859 Ind., May 30, 1829.
W. J. Barker Denver April 5, i860 ...N. Y., Dec. 23, 1831.
J. W. Bowles Littleton May 25, 1859 . .N. C, July 17, 1836.
554 APPENDIX.
NAME. RESIDENCE. ARRIVAL. BIRTHPLACE AND DATE,
Geo. Baldey New Orleans Sept. 15, 1859 ..Pa., Aug. 26, 1830.
W. L. Campbell Denver May 15, 1860...N. Y., Oct. 8, 1829.
J. N. Carlisle Pueblo April, i860 Ohio, Oct., 1836.
M. B. Case Loveland June 28, i860. ..
O. D. Cass Denver May 13, i860.. .N. H., Aug. 2, 1823.
J. B. Chaffee Denver Mar., i860 N. Y., April 17, 1825.
T. J. Chandler Denver Mar., i860 N. Y., Oct. 29, 1830.
F. Charpiot Denver Nov., 1 859 France, Jan. i, 1829.
Ed. Chase Denver June 6, i860.. ..N. Y., 1836.
B. F. Cheeseman Denver July 10, i860.. .N. Y., 1826.
D. A. Cheever Denver July 6, 1859 Mass., 1824.
G. M. Chilcott Pueblo May, 1859 Pa., Jan. 28, 1828.
G. T. Clark Denver May, i860 Mass., Feb. 24, 1837.
J.W.Clark Denver Sept. 13, 1858. ..Va., Jan. 13, 1815.
W. H. Clark Denver Oct. 28, 1858... Ohio, July 19, 1835.
C. J. Clarke Denver July i, i860 Va., 1843.
H.M. Clay Douglas Co June 10, 1859.. .Mo., Sept. 27, 1836.
M.D.Clifford Denver June, i860 Ireland.
S. C. Clinton Denver June 26, 1859.. N. Y., Sept. 10, 1834.
A. S. Cobb Denver Feb., i860 Mass., July 18, 1836.
E. W. Cobb Denver June, 1859 Mass., Nov. 24, 1827. Dead.
F. M. Cobb Denver June, 1858 Me., 1832.
J. G. Coberly Middle Park Nov. 5, 1858.. . .111., April 6, 1843.
W. D. Coberly Denver 1858 111., 1840.
J. N. Cochran ... Silver Cliff Aug. 17, 1858. .Va., April 10, 1826.
ivm. Cole Denver Oct. 28, 1858... N. Y., Feb. 16, 1837,
G. M. Collier Denver April i, 1860...N. Y., July 4, 1844.
E. H. Collins Denver Oct. 10, 1860...N. Y., Aug. 31,1829.
W. S. Collins Denver May, i860 N. Y., July, 1826.
M. R. Comfort Denver June 3, i860 N. Y., Nov., 1835.
David Connelly Denver July i, 1859 N. Y., Sept. 13, 1826.
Fred. Converse Denver June 4, i860 Vt., Feb. 12, 181 9.
J. A. Connell Montezuma Junes, i860 Ohio, Sept. 23, 1840.
D.J.Cook Denver June 17, 1859. .Ind., August.
G. W. Cook Denver March 6, 1859.. N. Y., Oct. 31, 1839.
J. D. Copeland Denver Aug., i860 Ind., March 7, 1844.
BirksCornforth Denver June 17, i860. . .England, Dec. 12, 1836.
Jerry Coulehan Denver May 18, i860. . .Ireland, Aug. 17, 1838.
J. H.Craig Castle Rock May, 1859 Pa., Oct. 27, 1827.
G. W. Craig Denver Sept., 1S59 N. H.,.1830.
Thos Crippen. .. .Denver Aug., 1859 Canada, Jan. 28, 1837.
Henry Crow Denver 1859 Canada, 1830.
Thos. Cryder Denver 1 860 Illinois, 1 836.
W. J. Curtice Denver April 8, 1859 N. Y., Sept. 14, 1826.
APPENDIX. 555
NAME. RESIDENCE. ARRIVAL. BIRTHPLACE AND DATE.
Rodney Curtis Denver i860 N. Y , 1839.
L. W. Cutler Denver June i, i860. . .N. Y., 1826.
C. G. Cheever Denver .\ug. 18, 1859. . Mass.. Sept. 17,1827.
J. M. Chivington. . Denver June 4, i860. . . .Ohio, Jan. 27, 1821.
T. A. Campbell .... Denver Nov., 1859 Ohio, Aug. 27, 1838.
F.Christ .Watkins May i, 1859 Pa., Feb. 28, 1831.
F. B. Crocker Denver July 2, i860 Mass., June 5, 1828.
C. C. Cady Denver July 6, i860 Mass., March 5, 1815.
Chas. Corbin Denver 1859 Ohio, 1832.
G. A. Crofutt Denver June, i860 Conn., Aug. 13,1827.
John Cree Denver June, i860 Ohio.
Wm. Crowley Denver Colorado, Dec, i860.
Alex. Cree Georgetown June, i860 Ohio, March 18, 1840.
D. C. Crawford Golden May 5, i860 Mich., Sept. 5, 1838.
B. F. Crowell Colorado Springs. .June 25, i860. .Mass., Jan. 8, 1835.
H. A. Cummings. ..Denver March 12, i860. Mass., July 30, 1835. Dead.
W. M. Crull Denver June 20, i860... Ohio, Oct. 7, 1818.
W.A.Corson Colorado Springs. .June 15, 1859... Ohio, April 22, 1836.
Isaac Cooper Denver May 4, 1859 111., Oct. 15, 1839. Dead.
J. B. Cooper Alameda, Cal April 28, i860. .Vt., Sept. 30, 1828.
J. A. Connors Denver April 11, 1859. .Canada, June 27, 1835.
H. P. Cowenhoven.Aspen June 27, 1859. .Prussia, March :'o, 1814.
Thos. Cross Loveland June 15, 1859... Pa., March 29, 1837.
M. B. Corbin Breckenridge Aug. 15, i86o.,N. Y., May 22, 1838.
Chas. H. Colburn..Hopedale, Mass. ..June i, i860 Mass., Aug. 15, 1836.
J. L. Dailey Denver April 8, 1859... Ohio, Nov. 19, 1833.
M. C. Dailey Denver April 27, 1859. .Pa., 1840.
Wm. M. Dailey Denver 1859 Ohio.
R. N. Daniels Rosita April 20, i860.. Mich., March, 1833.
B. F. Darrah Denver June 20, 1859... N. H., Jan. 26, 1828.
H. H. DeMary Soda Springs June 3, 1859 N. Y., Dec. 4, 1814.
C. T. Deuel Denver June, i860 Va., April 14, 1833.
Jas. Devlin Denver April, 1859 Ireland. 1836.
Almon Dibble Denver Junes, i860 N. Y., Sept. 10, 1824.
T. C. Dickson.... Cheyenne June 20, 1858. .Ohio, Jan. 2, 1828.
Louis Doll Denver June 25, i860. .Germany, April 25, 1825.
J. W. Donellan Wyoming July, 1859 Ireland, June 9, 1841.
Jacob Downing.... Denver April i, 1859.. N. Y., April 12, 1830.
G. W. Drake Denver May 11, 1859.. Ohio, Nov. 8, 1838.
Lester Drake Denver July 22, 1860..N. Y., July 31, 1822.
J. W. Drips Black Hawk July 24, i860. .Pa., March 6, 1833.
J. H. Dudley Denver Oct., 1858 New York.
J. J. Dunagan Denver April i, i860. . .Mo., Aug. 5, 1838.
Wm. Davis St. Elmo June 11, i860. .Ohio, March 21, 1825.
656 APPENDIX.
NAME. RESIDENCE. ARRIVAL. BIRTHPLACE AND DATE.
J. N. Douglas. .. .Denver June 29, i860. . Ohio, Dec. 20, 1837.
T. A. Davis Telluride July 9, 1859 Ohio, Feb. 11, 1841.
Geo. Dane Cherry Creek July 15, i860. .Canada, Feb. 16, 1835.
P. H. Dunagan Denver May 4, 1859 Tenn., Feb. 28, 1834.
E. E. Davis Denver June6, i860 Wales, March 25, 1834.
J. H. Eames Denver July 23, i860. . Vt., June 14, 1820.
J. R. Early Denver May 4, 1859 Pa., Jan. 4, 1834.
B. H. Eaton Greeley 1859 Iowa, July, 1833.
Milton Estes Weld Co June, 1859 Mo., March 28, 1840.
Elisha Evans. . . . .Berthoud June i, i860. . . .Pa., Dec. 20, 1825.
J. F. Evans LeadviUe Oct., 1859 Pa., Oct. 22, 1836.
T. P. Evans Denver Sept. 15, 1859. .Va., Jan. 26, 1834.
D. W. Ewing Lupton 1859 Pa., 1829.
Geo. Engl Frankstown Aug. 15, i860. .Bavaria, July 19, 1828.
Chas. Eyser Denver July 6, 1859. . . .Germany, Sept. 6, 1822.
Oscar Ennes Evans July 8, i860. . . .Ohio, July 19, 1835.
J. W. Fassett Denver June 15, 1859. .111., Jan. 7, 1836.
A. C. Fellows Denver June 8, i860 ...Pa., Sept. 13, 1S33.
D. R. Fisher Denver June 15, i860. .Canada, May 31, 1834.
Perry Fisher Denver June 17, i860. .Ind., Aug. 3, 1838.
J. B. Fitzpatrick. .Golden June 17, 1859 Canada, June 26, 1830.
J. E. Force Denver i860 Pa., 1838.
B.L.Ford Breckenridge May 18, i860. .Va., Jan. 22, 1822.
E. F. Ford Breckenridge Aug. i, i860. . . .Kan., Sept. 17, 1856.
U. R. Ford Denver. July, 1859 Me., May i6, 1819.
J. W. Fowler Henderson Island. .June 18, i860. .Ohio, Dec. 7, 1818.
J. M. Fo.x Denver April 23, i860.. Mo., 1826.
Edgar Freeman . . . Empire Nov. i, 1858 .... Pa., Oct. 20, 1835.
B. P. Frink New Haven July, i860 New B., Jan. 20, 1828.
W. B. Foster Denver June, 1859. . ..Va., March 1, 1830.
Larkin Ford Denver May 29, i860. .Ind., Oct. 15, 1844.
Geo. Fahnon Kiowa April, i860 Germany, April 16, 1836.
C. R. Fish Denver May 25, i860. .Vt., Nov. 27, 1828.
Matt. France Colorado Springs. .June i, i860. . . . Va., Sept. 2, 1830.
J. T. Fleming Fairfield May 15, i860. .Ohio, May 13, 1833.
J. J. Gangloff Park Co May, i860
E. L. Gardner Denver June 28, i860. .N. ¥., July 25, 1819.
J. F. Gardner. . . .Frankstown May 14, 1859. . .N. Y., Nov. 2, 1834.
J. P. Gardner Denver June, i860 111., Aug. 16, 1847.
John Geil Denver June, i860 Bavaria, March 24, 1831.
Thos. Gibson Omaha April 8, 1859. . .June i, 1819.
C. C. Gird Denver Junes, i860 Ohio, Sept. 3, 1836.
O.J. Goldrick Denver Aug., 1859 Ireland, March 30, 1834. Dead.
John Good Denver May 13, 1859.. .France, Oct. 14, 1836.
APPENDIX.
NAME. RESIDENCE. ARRIVAL. BIRTHPLACE AND D.
C. J. Goss Denver .\pril, 1859 Vt., March 12, 1821.
S. S. Green Greenland June 28, i86o....Ind., Dec. 14, 1841.
W. H. Green Denver Oct., 1858 N. J., Nov. 23, 1828.
L. N. Greenleaf . . . Denver May, i860 Mass., Oct. 4, 1838.
C. C. Griffith Denver June, 1859 Mo., March 15. 1831.
C. R. Godfrey Denver May, i860 N. Y., July 4, 1829.
Henry Gibson Omaha .4pr. 19, 1859. . .England, Jan. 22, 1840.
D. W. Griffey Denver Dec, 1858 Ky., June 24, 1830.
A. D. Gambell May 30, 1859 . .Ohio, Jan. 27, 1823.
D. W. Gallagher... Denver May i, 1859 Ohio, Jan. 28, 1834.
R. H. Gibson Idaho Springs July 10, i860. . .Ind., Jan. 21, 1832.
L. D. Gambell Denver May 28, i860.. .Ohio, Feb. 5, 1854.
A. C. Giltner Denver July 14, 1859.. .N. Y., Dec. 28, 1818.
G. C. Griffin Island Station Oct. 10, 1859. . .Conn., Oct 21, 1835.
F. A. Hale Denver Oct. 4, i860 N. Y., Dec. 25, 1855.
J. A. Hall Denver May 22, i860 Mass., March 12, 1829.
A. Hall Denver i860 ..1842.
J. T. Hall Salida June, i860 Mass., 1832.
Frank Hall Denver June, i860 N. Y., March 4, 1836.
Nelson Hallock Denver, June 19, 1859.. N. Y., Sept. 5, 1840.
J. R. Hambel Georgetown May 30, i860. . .Ohio, Sept. 15, 1840.
J. F. Hamilton Salt Lake June i, i860 Conn., Dec. 22, 1830.
R. J. Hamilton Denver Nov. 2, 1858 Ohio, Nov. 23, 1834.
U. S. Hamniel I.eadville Apr. 15, 1859.. Ohio, 1832.
Leander Hannum. .Denver May 30 N. H., Jan. 6, 1838.
C. R. Hartman. . . .Denver i860 1836.
Thos. Hartman Coal Creek May 9, 1 860 Canada, April 6,1818.
J. H. Harolson. . . .Fountain June 27, 1859. ..111., .Vug. 5, 1841.
G. W. Harrison. . . .Morrison July 5, i860. . . .Canada, Sept, 26, 1826.
J. W. Hatfield Denver April, 1859 111., 1854.
W. T. Havvkett Denver June 19, 1859. ...N. Y., Nov. 12, 1841.
B. M. Heermans. ..Denver .Sept., i860 N. Y., May 31, 1822.
J. T. Henderson. . .Denver May 17, 1859. ..England, 1836.
Jas. Henshall Denver June 20, 1859... Md., Feb. iS, 1835.
Louis Herman. .. .Denver Dec. 18, 1858. .Kan., Aug. 16,1830.
H. H. Hewitt Denver May, i860 N. Y., May 9, 1833.
D. H. Haywood. ..Denver July 2, i860 . . .Mass., April 19, 1826.
A. G. Hoops Breckenridge. May 26, i860. . .Pa., July 26, 1833.
Joseph Hodyson. ..Denver June 19, 1859.. N. Y., March 11, 1831.
Wm. Hodyson Denver June 19, 1859... N.Y., March 26, 1838.
J. H. Holmes Denver July, 1859 N. Y., 1832
G. M. Hopkins Denver June 10, i860... 111., Nov. 15, 1835.
G. L. Howard Boulder June 20, 1858. .. Miss., Aug. 2, 1835.
J. D. Howland Denver Oct., 1857 Ohio, 1843.
658 APPENDIX.
NAME. RESIDENCE. ARRIVAL. BIRTHPLACE AND DATE.
N. S. Hurd Denver Dec, i860 Vermont, 1837.
A. C. Hunt Denver June 18, 1859... N. Y., Dec. 23, 1825.
W. A. Hunter Idaho Springs June 28, i860.. .Ohio, June 30, 1836.
W. W. Hall Denver May 20, i860.. .N. Y., March 20, 1835.
W. H. Hurlburt May 22, i860. . .N. Y., Sept. 5, 1830.
P. P. Herbert.... Denver June 16, i860. .N. Y., Nov. 26, 1832.
F. J. Huber Kiowa June, 1859 Switzerland, June 32, 1834.
E. T. Hawkins Dead.
C. L. Hall Leadville May, 1859 N. Y., Nov. 22, 1835.
W. Hammer Littleton June 6, i860 Pa., March 16, 1829.
J. J. Hagus Denver April 14, i860 . .Prussia, Sept. 24, 1838.
Lafayette Head... .Conejos Nov. 24, 1854... Mo., April 19, 1825.
D. M. Holden Colorado Springs. .July 15, 1859. . .N. Y., Aug. 10, 1833.
C. R. Husted June, i860 N. J., Dec. 31, 1832.
Frank Headley Denver May 25, i860.. . . Iowa, April 7, 1856.
W. S. Hurlburt Cheyenne July, i860 Va., Sept. 30, 1840.
B. P. Hamon Denver April 11, 1859.. Pa., Nov. s, 1824.
J. V. Higgins Denver July 15, 1860...N. Y., Sept. 25, 1832.
Geo. Howard Summit Park June 27, i860. .Pa, March 11, 1832.
Sam Hartsel Hartsel May 24, i860. .Vt., Nov. 22, 1833.
H. E. Hyatt Denver June 21, i860 Vt., June 25, 1814.
Thos. Hooper Central City Aug. 5, i860 Wales, May 23, 1843.
O. H. Henry Denver July 10, i86o...Vt., Oct. 14, 1842.
M. Ivory Denver Oct., 1858 Ireland, 1833.
W. H. Iliff Breckenridge July 6, 1859 ...Ohio, Jan. 4, 1836.
R. F. Jackson Fort Lupton 1859 Indiana.
A. Jacobs Denver Jiine, 1859 Bavaria, Aug., 1834.
J. S. Jones Boulder June, 1859 Kentucky, 181 1.
W. H. James Denver June 10, i860.. Wales, Feb. 5, 1838.
T. W. Johnson Denver June 10, 1859. . .Mich., April 9, 1832.
J. H. Johnston Buena Vista May, i860 Mo., May 21, 1834.
A. M. Jones Denver June 24, i860. ..Va., Oct. 31, 1835.
J. C. Jones May, i860 Pa., Sept. 21, 1840.
T. J. Jones Valmont May 10, 1859 111., Sept. 18, 1820.
Hiram Johnston.. . .Breckenridge July 2, i860 Maine, Aug. 21, 1830.
E. P. Jones Del Norte
A. C. Johnston Denver May, 1859 Scotland, May 21, 1830.
B. F. Johnson Greeley June 16, 1859... N. Y., Dec. 13, 1834.
G. W. Kassler Denver May 24, i860. .N. Y., Sept. 12, 1836.
J. C. Kaufman Denver May 29, i860.. .Germany, Feb. 28, 1838.
V. B. Kelsey Fort Lupton June, 1859 Ohio, ."Vpril 20, 1839.
G. E. Kettle Denver April 6, 1859... R. I., Oct. 2, 1835.
S. A. King Silver Plume May 8, 1859 . . .Mass., Jan. 3, 1839.
Jerry Kirtley Georgetown June 26, i860. . .Indiana, 1834.
, ....Pa., Aug. 12, 1821.
. . .Mass., Oct. 23, 1832.
. ..Ky., Dec. 23, 1833.
...Ireland, Sept. 24, 1829.
. . .Vt., Jan. 26, 1834.
/APPENDIX. 559
NAME. RESIDEN'CE. ARRIV.\L. BIRTHPLACE AND DATE.
P. A. Kline Central May, 1859 Aug., 1837.
H. Klopfer Denver July 12, i860. .Bavaria, Nov. 7, 1822.
H. J. Kruse Denver July 2, i860 Germany, Nov. 18, 1837.
D. E. Kurtz Denver June 5, 1859..
Orris Knapp Denver June 5, i860.
Jesse Keel Central City June 3, 1859
J. S. Langrishe. .. .Denver Sept., i860.
H. B. Leach Denver July 4, i860.
O. E. Lehow Denver Nov. 6, 1858. ..Pa., Jan. 24, 1829.
C. Lerchen, Jr Denver June 22, 1859. .Germany, Sept. 11, 1839.
J. G. Lilley Littleton Aug. i, i860. . . .England, Jan. 12, 1832.
R, S. Little Littleton 1S60 N. H., Mayi2, 1829.
L Lobach Denver April 14, i860.. Pa., Nov. 23, [830.
S. M. Logan Denver May, 1859 Ohio, Nov. 17, 1822.
Julius Londoner 1 860 Prussia, 1833.
Wolfe Londoner. .. Denver May, i860 N. Y., July 3, 1839.
C. A. Loomis Denver Aug. 5, 1859. . .Mass., April 18, 1840.
S. I. Lorah Central .^June 10, i860.. .Ohio, Jan. 20, 1834.
W. A. H. Loveland.. Denver June 22, 1859. ..Mass., May 31, 1826.
Henry Ludlow Boulder July 9, 1859 New York.
James Luttrell Oct., 1858 Dist. Columbia, Sept. 17, 1828.
Milton Lutts Denver June 6, 1859. ..Ohio, Dec. 27, 1837.
A, Lee Central March 3, 1859 ..England, April 15, 1835.
G. W. Lechner Denver July 15, 1859.... Pa., Aug. 28, 1832.
E. K. Lawall ... .Kiowa Aug., i860 Pa., Jan. 29, 1817.
Wm. Lee Denver Sept. 9, 1859. ..England, Jan. 30, 1837.
J. E. Lyons San Francisco June i, i860 .. .N. Y., March 9, 1820.
W. F. Leonard Silver Cliff Dec. 24, i860.. .111., Nov. 27, 1840.
J. J. Leonard Denver Nov. 6, i860 New York, July 12, 1821.
Oscar Lewis Denver May 30, i860.. .Vt., July 9, 1835.
A. J. Mackey Boulder July, 1859 N. Y., Nov. 11, 1834.
Peter Magnes Arapahoe Co Jan. 18, 1859 .. .Sweden, March 12, 1824.
W. H. Moine Buena Vista Nov. 19, 1859. .. Mich., March, 1838.
C. D. Mann Denver July 4, 1859 New York, June 23, 1840.
F. J. Marshall Denver Nov., 1859 Va., April 3, 1816.
Albert Matthews. . .New York City June, i860 Mass., Dec. 29, 1829.
J. G. Moyer Denver Sept. 10, i860.. .Baden Baden, Sept. 20, 1827.
J. McBroom Platte River. May 9, 1858 Ky., July 26, 1822.
J. McCannon Leadville May, 1859 Pa., Jan. 9, 1830.
L. McCarty Denver i860 Ohio, June 14, 1829. Dead.
W. O. McClellan.. Denver Aug., 1859 Ohio, April 18, 1835.
J.C. McClellan Wagon Wheel Gap.June 26, 1859.. Pa., April 22, 1829.
Ed. McClintock Denver Nov. 15, i860. .Pa,, Aug. 5, 1833.
J. S. McCool Island Station May, i860 1824.
660 APPENDIX.
NAME. RESIDENCE. ARRIVAL. BIRTHPLACE AND DATE.
J. I.. McCormick.. Denver June 27, 1859... Ohio. Dead.
R. McDowell Denver May 8, i860 Pa., Sept. 21, 1831.
C. McEwen Denver June 26, i860.. .N. Y., July 26, 1839.
D. McGonigal Denver May 16, i860. . Pa , Aug. 23, 1831.
Wm. J. McKoy. . ..Denver June 24, 1859. .Nova Scotia, April 12, 1825.
J. C. McKee Denver Jul)', i860 Ireland, April 13, 1825. Dead-
C. H. McLaughlin.. Denver Sept., 1859 Pa., April 22, 1827.
D. McShane Monument May 15, i860. . Pa., Oct. 3, 1830.
G. G. Merrick. . . . Denver May 7, 1859. . . . Mass., July 12, 1829.
J. H. Meyer Denver April 20, 1859. . Md., Jan. 22, 1837.
A. F. Middaugh Del Norte June 13, i860... Pa., Aug. 26, 1840.
A. B. Miller Denver Sept., i860 Pa., 1829. Dead.
J. D. Miller Pueblo Sept., 1858 N. Y., March 22, 1836.
L. Miller Denver May i, i860 Mo., May i, 1830.
O. Milner Summit Co June 18, i860. .Ohio, July, 1838. Dead.
L. Mills Denver July 11, 1859. .Ky., Dec. 26, 1826.
D. Mitchell Denver> Sept., 1859 Mo., Sept. 5, 1848.
J.Mitchell Denver May, 1859 . ...Prussia, 1812. Dead.
M. J. Mitchell. .. .Denver Nov,, i860 Kan., i860.
S. J.Mitchell Denver May, i860 Mo., 1844.
D. H. Moffat Denver March 8, i860. ..N. Y., July 22, 1839.
J. C. Moore Denver June 27, 1859. .Tenn., Aug. 18, 1834.
W. H. Morgan Park Co May 10, 1859. . N. Y., July 20, 1826.
Geo. Morrison .... Bear Creek June i, 1859... .Canada, .\pril 16, 1822.
L. B. Morrison. . . .Denver Oct. 11, 1859. . .N. Y., May 2, 1831.
F. C. Morse Fairplay July 9, i860. . . .Me., .'Vug. 5, 1831.
H. B. Morse Central City i860 Conn., Nov. 10, 1829.
H. D. Mosher Denver June 2, i860 Vt., Jan. 8, 1839.
C. M. Mullen Boulder April 7, i860. . .Mass., Oct. 10, 1845.
H. Murat Nov. 2, 1858 Germany, Oct. 25, 1823.
H. C. Murphy Denver June 18, 1859.. .Ireland, Sept., 1838.
J. H. Myers Denver Aug, 8, 1859. . Pa., Oct. 31, 1834.
R.Morrow Park Co Oct. 20, 1859 .. Pa., Nov. 10, 1829.
W. R. Marshall Denver Oct. 27, i860.. .Minn., July 22, 1854.
J. D. Moore Denver May 25, 1859. .111., July 1 1, 1838.
C. Monhart Sedalia May 31, i860. . .Pa., April 30, 1835.
G. T. Miles Denver Sept. 19, 1859 ..Ohio, Sept. 15, 1844.
W. H. Maloney...Watkins June 10, i860. .Ohio, March 4, 1845.
A. Metzler Frankstown April 15, i860.. . N. Y., June 20, 1854.
J. McNassar Sacramento, Cal.. . Aug. 11, i860. .Ireland, April 28, 1825.
J. H. Martin Denver Nov., 1859 England, Oct. 14, 1826.
G. Monhart Sedalia May 31, i860. .. Pa., Feb. 5, 1855.
D. C. Maxon Elbert July, 1859 N. Y., Feb. 12, 1825.
E. P. McElroy Husted June, 1859 Mo., June 12. 1835.
APPENDIX. 561
NAME. RESIDENCE. ARRIVAL. BIRTHPLACE AND DATE.
W. H. Macomber.. Colorado Springs.. May 29, 1859. .Mass., May 28, 1839.
J. O. Moore Denver May 15, 1859. . .Ill, April 19, 1832.
G. M. Miller Fairplay June 2, i860 Wurtemburg, .\ug. 31, 1835.
A. Marsh Denver April 20, i860. .Ontario, Oct. 24, 1834.
Sam'l Monk Denver May 8, i860. . . .Mass., Nov. 8, 1824.
A. H. Miles Denver Sept. 5, 1859.. .Ohio, Sept. 14, 1820.
S. McClure Abbott Sept., i860 Ohio, April 29, 1827.
E. M. McCook Ft. Hamilton, N.Y..Aug. 6, 1859.. Ohio, June 15, 1835.
L. Mayer Denver May 15, 1859 . . France, Sept. 16, 1838.
J. G. Melvin Melvin July 15, 1859. ..Conn., Nov. 22, 1836.
F. Morey Denver May 15, i860. . .N. Y., Dec. 25, 1832.
C. North Denver July 9, i860 Conn., Aug. 29, 1825.
E. Nagle Cheyenne April, i860 Ohio, 1833.
C. H. Ni.x Denver March 28, 1859 .Bingen on the R., June 30, '36.
E. B. Newman Denver Aug. i, i860. . Md., Oct. 24, 1833.
W. Nicholson Central June 15, i860. .Scotland, July i, 1835.
D. C. Oakes Denver Oct. 15, 1858.. .Me., April 3, 1825.
W. P. Ogden Denver i860 Michigan.
R. O. Old Georgetown July 9, i860 England, Oct. 28, 1829.
E. B, Older Colorado Springs. .June 12, i860. . N. J., Aug. 2, 1820.
H. M. Orahood. . . . Denver June 11, i860. ..Ohio, June 3, 1841.
H. E. Page Denver 1859 Maine, 1835.
N. E. Parker Nathrop Oct., i860 Me., Feb. 21, 1832.
J. D. Parmelee South Park May, 1S60 Vt., Dec. 3, 1813.
N. S. Parsons Denver May 20, i860. . .N. Y., May 4, 1825.
G. Peck Las Animas June, 1858 July 2, 1836.
J. M. Pendleton. . .Denver April 20, 1859. .111., Aug. 10, 1834.
C. C. Pennock. . . .Denver Sept, 10, i860. . .N. Y., April 30, 1850.
E. S. Perrin Denver July 10, 1859.. .N. Y., Aug. 20, 1824.
H. A. E. Pickard .. Denver June 28, i860.. N. Y., July 1 1, 1839.
J. J. Pachon South Pueblo 1859 Switzerland, April 15, 1838.
L. J. Pallard Grand Lake July 9, 1859 N. Y., Oct., 1841.
W. P. Pollock Recen April 12, i860. .. Pa., Jan. 31, 1824.
H. R. Price Pueblo June 9, i860. . . . Va., Nov. 10, 1833.
A. E. Pierce Denver Feb., i8j9 Mich., Nov. 2, 1837.
C. C. Pell ..Denver June, i860 N.'Y., Nov. 3, 1817.
W. Perrin Denver March 18, i860. Mass., Oct. 22, 1839.
E. M. Perkins.... Evans May 8, i860 111., Dec. 17, 1833.
C. W. Pollard Georgetown May 26, 1859. . N. Y., Oct. 22, 1834.
L. K. Perrin Denver .4pril 7, i860. . .Conn., July 9, 1814.
H. C. Peck Jefferson Co June 12, 1860..N. Y., Dec. 23, 1832.
\V. G Pell Boulder July 20, 1859. .Canada. .\ug. 10, 1822.
D. G. Peabody. . . .Denver Junes, i860 Vt., March 23, 1834.
W. W. Park Denver June 5, i86o.,..N. Y., March 17, 1842.
36 II.
562 APPENDIX.
NAME. RESIDENCE. ARRIVAL. BIRTHPLACE AND DATE.
J. D. Peregrine. . . .Central June i, 1859. . . .Mass., April 23, 1832.
W. Phillips Denver June 2, i860 N. Y., Feb. 22, 1822.
W. Queen Central July i, 1859 Ohio, Sept. 30, 1833.
W. O. Rand Breckenridge May 25, i860. . .Nova Scotia, June 12, 1831.
J. M. Rantschler. .Pueblo Co May 29, 1859. . .Kentucky, July 8, 1839.
G. Ratcliff Castle Rock May 8, i860. .. England, Jan. 26, 1837.
J. W. Ratliff Bald Mountain May 30, i860. . 111., Oct. 18, 1832.
Henry Reitze Denver Oct. 30, 1858. . .Germany, Dec. iS, 1830.
E. A. Reser Denver June 2,1860 N. V., Dec, 1838.
D. M. Richards Denver April 24, 1859. .Ohio, March 27, 1836.
J. J. Riethmann. .Denver Oct. 20, 1858 . .Switzerland, Nov. 20, 1838.
Geo. Rist Loveland May 21, 1859. . .Pa., .-Xpril 16, 1841.
Jos. Rist Russell Gulch May, 1859 Pa., Jan. 25, 1832. Dead.
A. G. Rhoads Denver July 3, i860 Ohio, Dec, 1836.
J. H. Robb Denver May, i860 Ind., Feb. 28, 1836.
J. W. Robb Denver Mavis, i860. . Ind., July 15, 1838.
R. S. Roe Denver June 22, 1859. ..England, Aug. 8, 1839.
W. M. Roworth. ... Denver May 24, i860. .N. Y., April 3, 1831.
J. C. Ruffner Denver May 7, i860 Switzerland, Sept. 30, 1828.
J. M. Rand Denver May 15, i860. .Ohio, May 13, 1837. Dead.
E. Riethmann Denver March 23, 1859 .Switzerland, March 5, 1844.
J. G. Randall Como July, 1859 N. Y., March 4, 1832.
('. I.. Richardson . .Castle Rock
B. O. Russell Denver July 23, 1859. .. Pa., March 14, 1821.
J. J. Ryan Loveland May, i860 Ireland, Nov. 14, 1838.
L. D. Riethmann.. Denver Nov. 17, 1858. . .Switzerland, May 8, 1840.
J. S. Reid Leadville May 30, i860. .Ireland, Nov. 4, 1830.
H. B. Rollins Denver Sept. 7, i860.... Mo., July 4, 1858.
W. B. Root Aspen June 20, i860.. Mass., Feb. 7, 1848.
F. Z. Salomon Denver June 20, 1859. . Poland, April 10, 1830. Dead.
A. F. Safely Boulder May 5, i860 N. Y., June 30, 1841.
G. L. Sanborn Denver March, i860... .Massachusetts, 1831.
E. J. Sanderlin ...Denver June 11, 1S59. . La., Sept. 14, 1835.
J. S. Sanderson Denver Oct., 1858 Vermont, 1834.
B. N. Sanford Denver June i, i860 ... N. Y., Aug. 10, 1826.
W. B. Sarell Golden..- May, i860 England, Oct. 17, 1820.
N. Sargent Denver May i, 1859 Vermont, Nov. 5, 181 1.
G F. Savory Boulder July 9, 1859.. N. Y., Sept. i, 1842. Dead.
H. F. Sawyer Denver June, i860 Mass., Aug. 26, 1837.
A. Sayre Denver March, i860 N. J., March 10, 1835.
H. Schayer Denver June, 1S60 Prussia, April, 1829.
J. Scherrer L^enver July 11, 1859 France, Feb., 183S.
A. Schinner Denver April 16, i860. .Prussia, April 17, 1831.
C. Schmeder Denver Nov. 15, 1858. ..Kansas, May 27, 1831.
APPENDIX. 5(
NAME. RESIDENCE. ARRIVAL. BIRTHPLACE AND DATE.
G. C. Schleier.... Denver Nov., 1858 Ohio, Jan. 4, 1827.
G. Schram Denver June 15, i860.. .N. Y., March, 1830. Dead.
M. M. Seavey Denver Maine, Dec. 10, 1840.
C. S. Semper Denver April, 1859 England, June 30, 1830.
E. Schafter Denver May, 1859 .England, March 20, 1838.
D. D. Shaw Denver May 28, 1859. .Canada, 1828.
Jos. Shaw May 8, i860 Me., July 7, 1832. Dead.
V. S. Shelby July 18, 1859.. Tenn., Feb. 5, 1827.
J. A. Shreve June 5, 1860....N. J., April 6, 1835.
M. Silverthorne Breckenridge May 17, 1859. . .N. J., Sept. 15, 1811. Dead.
W. E. Sisty Brookvale May, 1859 . . . . Pa., Sept. 29, 1827.
T. Skerritt June 2, 1859 Ireland, Aug. 16, 1S20
T. M. Skerritt June 2, 1859. ..Colo., May 24, i860.
C. P. Slade Caribou July 12, 1S59...N. Y., May 30, 1832. Dead.
S. S. Slater Denver July 4, 1859... .N. Y., May 22, 1831.
M. H. Slater Leadville May 19, i860 Ill, Nov. 27, 1841.
W. M. Slaughter.. Leadville Oct. 15, 1858. . .Ohio, July 25, 1830.
A. A. Smith Leadville June 28, 1859.. Ohio, Aug. 25, 1829.
A. C. Smith Denver Feb. 17, 1859. ..N. Y., May 18, 1832.
A. H, Smith Denver June 16, i860. . .Ireland, May, 1843.
A.Smith Castle Rock Jan. 20, 1859 .. .111., Nov. 25, 1834.
J. G. Smith Denver Jan. 15, i860 Chili, Jan. 20, 1806.
W. A. Smith Colorado Springs. . May 14, i860. .. Kan., July 4, 1842.
W. A. Smith Denver March i, i860. .England, Nov. 5, 1840.
A. B. Sopris Denver April 23, i860. . Ind., May 20, 1837.
G. L. Sopris Denver April 23, i860. . Ind., Feb., 1853.
R. Sopris Denver March 15, 1859. ..Ind., July 26, 1813.
S. T. Sopris Denver. April 23, i860. .Ind., Dec. 3, 1845.
D. L. Southworth. . Denver i860 Iowa, 1827.
George Sparks Nevada May 2, i860. . .Pa., July 9, 1841.
J. H. Speed Denver July 6, i860. .. .Kentucky, 1824.
J. C. Spencer Denver July, 1859 Ohio, Nov. 27, 1831. Dead.
I. P. Spinning Denver April i, 1859 .. Ohio, Sept. 21, 1837.
A. M. Stanbury Denver June 27, 1859. ..N. Y., Nov. 6, 1830.
F. J. Stanton Aug. i, i860 England, Dec. 21, 1826.
I. W. Stanton Pueblo June 25, i860.. Pa., Jan. 6, 1835.
Amos Steck Denver May 29, 1859. ..Ohio, Jan. 8, 1822.
R. W. Steele
R. P.Stockton Deer Trail Aug. 4, 1859. . .Tenn., April 13, 1840.
W. F. Stone .Denver April 4, i860.. .Conn., Dec. 28, 1836.
W. Stringham
A. Sagendorf Denver Nov. 6, 1858....N. Y., Aug. 28, 1828
E. B. Sopris Trinidad June 8, 1859 Ind., July 21, 1843.
G. W. Snell Denver June, 1859 N. Y., March 29, 1859.
564
APPENDIX.
NAME. RESIDENCE. ARRIVAL.
R. Standring Pine P. O July, 1859
J. W Schrock Denver June 19, i860..
D. O. Sutphen. . . . Denver June 17, i860..
G. K. Sabin Denver May 20, i860. .
P. Schaefer Denver June 15, i860.
T. H. Simonton Red Cliff May 15, 1859.. •
M. Storms Denver May 15, 1859 .
R. J. Spottswood.. Littleton April 16, i860.
O. N. Saulcy. Denver April 5, i860. .
H. Z. Salomon. .. .Denver Feb. 15, 1859.
J. Shouk Denver July 4, 1859 ..
M. D, Swisher Silver Cliff June 6, 1859...
J. G. Smith Denver July 5, i860. .
H.P.Scott ..Davenport May 15, i860.
H. A. W. Tabor. . . .Denver June 10, 1859..
J. M Tallman Frankstown May 13, 1859.
D. S. Thompson. . . Denver July 4, i860. . .
G. E. Thornton. ..Denver July 2, 1859 ..
0. B. Totten Helena, M. T Nov. 14, 1858. .
W. S. Tough Denver April, i860 ...
J. Frankle Denver Sept. 10,1860.
G. Tritch Denver April 26, i860 .
J. M. Turley Denver May, 1859
J. F. Tabor Denver June 20, i860.
A. W. Tucker Bald Mountain June 2, 1859..
G. E. Turner Silver City April, i860
J. C.Turner Durango June 22, 1858. .
J. F. Tritch Denver., Aug., i860
P. Talbot Denver June 16, 1859..
H. R. Tillitt Holly June i, i860..
J. B. Tomlinson Denver May 15, i860.
1. P. VanWormer. . Denver June 17, 1859.
C. Visscher. . . . ..Denver June 1,1860..
A. H. Van Vlierden. Denver Sept. 15, 1859.
Conrad Walbrach. .Denver Sept. i, i860.
J. Walker Denver Dec, i860
H. B. Walker Husted May 20, i860..
D. K. Wall Denver April 29, 1859.
J. H. Wall Denver April 29, 1859 .
J. J. Walley Denver July 17, i860..
W. B. Walling Denver... June, i860
J. Wanless Colorado Springs. . 1859
J. E. Wannemaker. Golden July i, 1859..
A. Walrod Denver Oct. 10, 1858..
BIRTHPLACE AND DATE.
.England, March 19, 1833.
,Ky., Jan. 7, 1838.
.Ind., Oct. 15, 1842.
.Vt., March 19, 1830.
.Nassau, Sept. 14, 1836.
,.Pa., Oct. 2, 1827.
.Ohio, Nov. 5, 1823.
.Va., Oct. 25, 1839.
.Deele, France, July, 1835.
.Prussia, Sept., 1832.
.Pa., Nov. 28, 1832.
.Va., March 22, 1838.
.Canada, July 9, 1824.
.Ohio, May 16, 1837.
.Vt., Nov. 26, 1830.
.New York, April 25, 1838.
. Massachusetts.
.Conn., Nov. 2, 1829.
.N. J., April 9, 1830.
.Maryland, 1840.
.111., Oct. 25, 1850.
.Germany, April 25, 1829.
.Mo., July 30, 1830.
.Vt., May, 1827.
.Pa., Jan 10, 1837.
.Ind., June 17, 1838.
.Conn., March 10, 1836.
.Iowa, Nov. 15, 1855.
...Ky.. Dec. 9, 1827.
.Ohio, March 27, 1844.
..England, Feb. i, 1832.
..N. v., April 15, 1833.
. .N. Y., Dec. IS, 1833.
N. Y., Sept. 19, 1828.
..Germany, Feb. 8, 1837
..Maine, Feb. 17, 1833.
.111., Feb. 23,1833.
.Ohio, May 26, 1826.
.Ind., Jan. 17, 1842.
.N. Y.. Feb. 22, 1826.
.Vt., Jan. 31, 1835.
•1833-
.Ohio, April 7, 1838.
.N. Y., 1825.
APPENDIX. 5
NAME. RESIDENCE. ARRIVAL. BIRTHPLACE AND DATE.
A. J- Washburn Denver June 13, 1859. ..Me., March 4, 1827.
J. W. Watson Denver June, 1859 Ohio, Oct. 11, 1830.
E. Weaver Sedalia April 14, i860. .Va., March 14, 1834.
L. B. Weil Denver June 24, i860. .Germany, Nov. 12, 1840.
L. Wellmann Boulder July 9, 1859 Pennsylvania.
C. D. Wendell Morrison May, i860 N. Y., April 25, 1836.
J. S. Wheeler Fort Lupton June 17, 1859. .Massachusetts.
W.W.Whipple Denver 1859 1837.
J. E. White Denver May 13, 1859.. .Pa., Feb. 25, 1833.
O. A. Whittemore. . Denver March 24, i860. .Mass., March 2, 1828.
J. W. Whitlock Brooklyn May, 1859 Pa., Sept. 12, 1843.
J. W. Weir Denver June 28, i860... Pa., Jan. 28, 1826.
O. P. Wiggins Byers Dec, 1858 Canada, July 22, 1821.
P. P. Wilcox Denver June 14, i860... Pa., Sept. 6, 1824.
AV. F. Wilder Dec. 24, 1859. ..N. Y., 1833.
J. E. Williams Denver April 27, 1859. .Conn., .\pril 21, 1834.
E. A. Willough by. .Denver Oct. 28, 1858. . .N. Y., Jan. 6, 1836.
W. Wise Denver May i, 1859 . . .Germany, June 3, 1835.
D. Wolpart Platte Aug., 1859 Ohio, Nov. 23, 1833.
A. C. Wright Denver June 10, 1858. .N. Y., July 4, 1837.
C. W. Wright July, i860 N. Y., Dec. 12, 1842.
D. C. Wyatt Denver May 5, 1859 Mo., Oct. 14, 1837.
H. Wendling Denver May 16, i860.. .Germany, April 15, 1837.
T. E. Wheeler Lupton May 17, 1859.. .Mass.. Sept. 13, 1836.
F Wheeler Denver June 15, i860.. .111., Nov. 5, 1843.
J. M. Wallace Leadvilie May 26, i860. ..Ohio, Aug. 9, 1825.
G. E. Wilson Sterling May 20, i860.. .Pa., Dec. 8, 1838.
J. H. Warner Idaho Springs June, i860 Conn., Nov. 5, 1829.
J. Wolff Boulder Junes, i860.... Pa., Aug. 5, 1825.
R. J. White Denver June 15, i860. . .Ireland, June 20, 1820.
A. D. Wilson Denver May 24, i860. ...Mo., July 2, 1844.
M. H. Wakeman... Denver July, i860 N Y., Nov. 3, 1841.
J. C. Woodbury El Paso April 20, i860.. Mass., Dec. 25, 1825.
J. C. Wright Idaho Springs June 27, i86o...Ind., April 11, 1837.
J. E. Wild Cheyenne March 9, i860.. Mass., May, 1835.
T. Woodward Denver June 18, i860. . .Ireland, March 17, 1838.
L. J. Webber Denver July 4, i860.. .Mich., Aug. 9, 1835.
S. C.Webber Denver June 20, 1860...N. Y., April 27, 1833.
J. M. Whitney Deadwood Aug. 3, i860 N. Y., Nov 23, 1833.
H. O. Waggoner.. Denver July 3, i860 Md., Feb. 27, 1816.
H. G. Wolff Denver Aug. 20, 1859. .Va., Oct. 23, 1845.
R. S. Wootten, Sr.. Trinidad June i, 1836 Va., May 6, 1816.
R. L. Wootten, Jr.. Trinidad Dec. 25, 1858... N. M., March 21, 185 1.
J. T. Younker Denver June 22, i858...0hio, Aug. i, 1833.
irvIID^^C "TCD \ZCDI_T-JIv^E: II.
A I'AGE.
Adams, Hon. Alva 362
Adams, Gen. Charles— Rescues Ute Captives.. 503
Agriculture — Crops of in 1873 209
Agriculture — Products of in 1S77 4S0
Alleman, H. C— U. S. District Attorney 176
Allen, Richard S.— Founds Reveille 471
Animas City — Founding of Ig4
Animas Valley — Climate and products of 204
Arapahoe County— Suit of vs. K. P. R. R 396
Archer, Col. James 115
Arid Lands — Movement for reclamation of . . . . 177
Arkins, Col John— Advent of in Leadville ... 46S
purchases lot on Harrison avenue 473
becomes manager of R. M. "News." . 475
Arnett, W. D. — Discourse of on locust visita-
tions 2 ; 6
Artesian Wells — First sunken . 112
Atchison. Topeka & Santa Fe R. R 102
brief History of 3^7
consolidated with Pueblo & Ark. Valley. 375
Babcock, Gen. O. E 155
assists in replacing McCook 1 56
Baker, Capt. Charles— Expedition of 192
Baker's Pa.-k -First Encampment in.. 193
Baker, Capt. — Second Expedition of 195
death of 19^
Banks of Denver— Effect of Panic of '73 on. 183, 208
Bank of Clear Creek County 211
Banks— Established in Leadville 477
Barlow, Sanderson & Co.'s Express 108
Bearce, H. B 455
Beckurts, Herman -Presidential Elector 358
Beet Sugar-Effort to establish mfeof 116, 117
Belford, James B. — Removal of I7f>
nominated for Congress 332
trials of to obtain seat 34°
sworn and seated 342
PAGE.
Belford, James B. — second nomination for
Congress 487
great contest with Patterson 334
denied a place on Roil 344
stipulation with Patterson 350
Bennett, H. P — Unwarranted attack upon. ... 159
succeeded as postmaster by Cheevcr ifi6
Berthoud, Edward L 246
surveys Colorado Central R. R. line 407
Beulah — Pueblo Summer Resort 237
Black Friday — Panic of 181
Black Hills Custer's Expedition to 221
discovery of gold in 222
Sheridan's letter concerning 223
attempt to expel miners from 224
first newspaper in 225
Blue Lizard Gulch -Idyl of 243
Boone, Col. A. G.— Biographical sketch of 249
Bonacina, George— Murder of 147
Boulder County — Votes R. R. bonds 99
value of lands in 214
Bowen, T. M. — Candidate for Senate 492
Brazee, A. W. — Appointed Judge 175
opens court in Boulder 417
Bridger, Jim - Discovers gold in Black Hills. . 221
Bromwell, H. P. H 155
nominated for Congress 212
in Constitutional Convention 320
Brunot, Felix - Treaty of with Utes 190
Buckingham, R. G. — Nominated for Governor. 488
Burnell, James -Prospecting in Leadville 472
sells interest in "Chronicle," .... .. 474
Bush, W. H.— Builds Clarendon Hotel 468
Secretary Republican Convention 487
Byers, Wm. N.— Retires from "News." 481
services of to Colorado 482
C
Cameron, Gen. R. A.— Appointed Auditor. ... 173
568
INDEX TO VOLUME II.
Campbell, W. L.— Appointed Surveyor General
Campaign — Of 1876
Canon City & San Juan R. R. Co . .
Carpenter, L. Cass
Carr, Gen. R. E
Central City — Tumultuous scenes in
destruction of by tire
Chaffee, J. Ii.— Position of in Congress
introduces Railway bills
services of and re-election
quarrel of with President
prevents financial Panic
declines a re-election to Congress
heroic work on Enabling act
skill of in halls of Congress
reconciliation with President
serenaded at Manitou
nominated for the Senate
short biographical sketch of
seated in the Senate
speech of on pro rate bill
purchases mines in Leadville
declines re-election to Senate
Charles, L. C. — Territorial auditor
Cheesman, W S.— Buys R.R. Stocks for Gould.
Cheever, D. A. — Appointed Postmaster
Chilcott, Geo. M. — Candidate for Senate. 358,
Chivington, J M. — Grand Master of Masons. .
generosity of to Odd-Fellows
" Chronicle," Leadville — Founding of
remarkable success of
City National Bank - Organization of
Clark, Gen. W. I —In Congress
Clayton, George W
appointed Receiver D. P. R. R
Clear Creek County — Votes R. R. bonds . . . .
establishment of Miners' National Bank in.
Coal— (See Geological History)
Cook, D. J. — Captures Theo. Meiers
Cook, C. A 171-
Cooley, Capt — E.xpedition of
Cooper, Kemp G. — Manager "News."
Colorado — Admission of recommended by Presi-
dent
bills for admission introduced
passes panic of 1S73 unharmed
valuation of property in 1873
financial condition in 1874
early French expeditions to
State bill before the Senate
Eastern opinions of
amendments to Enabling act
r.\GE.
Colorado — Apprehensions of Senators and Rep-
resentatives 270
Enabling act passes Senate 274
struggle over same in House 275
passage of by the House 276
approved by the President 277
effect on National election of 1876 280
allegorical cartoon of new State 282
State admitted by Proclamation 329
financial condition of in 1876 358
election of 1876 discussed in Congress... 345
admission contested in Congress 340
Colorado — Area and boundaries of 322
surveys of boundary lines in 324
acres irrigated and irrigable 323
general elevations of State 323
geographical center of 32,
surveys of public lands in . . 325
Colorado Central R. R.- Plans for extending. . 395
general history of 406
repudiates consolidation with K. P 408
action taken by stockholders 409
new officers and directors chosen 410
road seized by Loveland 412
damaged by floods 413
company sued for debt 413
abduction of Judge Stone 414
court continued by Brazee 417
suits carried to Federal court 42 1
final compromises 422
extensions completed 422
Colorow — Character of 512
anecdotes of ... . 513
Commerce — E.xpansion of in 1 87 1 gi
Conner, D. Ellis— Adventures of 257-266
Congress — Confirms Land Grant 161
Copeland, Josiah — Murder of 151
Corning, Geo. C — Appointed Territorial Treas 173
buys into "Morning Star." 443
Constitutional Conver.tion — Non-partisan ef-
forts for 2S4
action taken by Democrats 285
apportionment of delegates for 287
general history of 288
members of 293
officers of 294
President's address to 295
subjects apportioned 297
committees appointed 299
first reports presented 302
subsequent reports 303
review of the work 304
INDEX TO VOLUME II.
569
PAGE.
Constitutional Convention — Fees and salaries
considered 305
influence of the lobby 306
adjustable nature of provisions 30S
efficient workers in convention 309-312
adjustment of water rights 315
political status of members 314
. fining of delinquents 316
influence on National election 317
members deceased 315
Constitution — Vote on adoption of 328
efforts to secure adoption of 355
Constitutional Conventions — Prior to 1876, (See
Appendix)
Cozens. W. Z 151
heroic conduct of 152
life and character of 152
Culver, N. S. — Nominated for Treasurer 4B7
Curtis, U. M. — Indian interpreter 169
D
Dailey, John L — Character of 482
Danforth, Keyes 171
Davis, Carlyle C 472-476
Decker, W. S.— Appointed District Attorney. . 361
Democratic party 285
first State Convention of 332
second State Convention of 483
ticket nominated 4S4
Denver— City of in 1873 208
first recorded town site of 228
first cabins built in 229-231
first town company 230
struggles to maintain 231
first white women in 232
first hotel erected. 233
first child born 233
first mechanics 233
first postmasters 233
great revival in 1878 467
real estate in 1877 480
mayors and officers of (See Appendix). . . .
high line canal projected 48 1
Denver, Gen. J. W.- Short sketch of 326
Denver Horse Railway - Charter of 113
first lines built "4
condition of in 1S77 481
Denver Water Company— Inception of 114
original works of 115
first test of 116
status of in 1877 480
Denver Gas Compan) — Status of in 1877 481
PAGE.
Denver Pacific R. R 92-396
Denver & South Park R. R IC2-470
Denver & Golden - Rivalry between 95
Denver & Rio Grande R. R. — Status of in '72. 363
earnings of in 1873 364
effect of on development 365
extensions of in 1873-74 3^6
beginning of trouble with the Santa Ye . 369
seizure of Raton Pass 369
W. B. Strong's movements 370
struggle for the Grand Canon 370
arrest of McMurtrie & Weitbrec 371
Engineer Morley's famous ride 371
case in Federal court 372
forces withdrawn from Canon 373
road leased to the Santa Fe 375
conditions of the lease 376
road transferred 377
renewal of the war 378
indications of violence 379
value of securities in 1878 379
granted prior ri,5ht of way 380
Judge Bowen's injunction 380
Bowen replies to Teller 381
action of the Governor 381
lines retaken by Hunt 382
road turned over to Palmer 382
seizure of stations - 384
movement to quash writs 384
Risley appointed Receiver 385
DeRemer's forts in Canon 307
Ellsworth appointed Receiver 3S7
lease canceled, peace restored 390
rapid extension of lines 391
completed to Leadville 470
Diamond Swindle —The great 126
movements of Arnold 127
extravagant statements of 12S
sparkling ant hills 1 29
Arnold repudiated 1 30
Gray's expedition to Arizona 133
lecture by Gov. Gilpin 135
Dr. Wallen's theories 137
exposure ot the fraud 138
catastrophe in stocks 141
where the diamonds were bought 142
inception of the scheme 143
Arnold's letter to the Company 144
death of Arnold 145
Dill, Capt. R. G 452
founds Leadville " Herald" 475
Di.Kon. L. S 388
570
INDEX TO VOLUME II
PACK.
Dodge, D. C 375
Dugal, Louis— Removal of 171
record as a soldier 171
recommended for electoral messenger. .. . 361
s
Economy — Practice of enforced no
Eddy. Edward — Biography of 448
Eicholtz, Col. L. H q6
Elbert, S. H — Appointed Governor 155
Ouray's message to 191
message to Legislature 187.) 20S
removed by President Grant 157
effect of removals in Denver 158
Evans, John— Entertains President Grant.... 155
E.xecutions— Legal in Colorado 150
F
Federal Appointees - I'irst State 361
Felton, \V. B.— Denounces division of State.. 486
First National Bank 2I0
Forestry of Colorado — Extent of 323
Fowler, Stanley G 160-282
France, L. B 4S1
Francisco, Col. J. M — Sketch of 251
Freight Rates — During pro rate war 395
Free Masons — Organization of 1:9
Fryer, George H 435
Furnas, Gov. R. A 178
G
Gavisk, M. J. — Editor and reporter 476
Geological History of Colorado 17
primordial condition of 18
first dry land, character of 18
granites and gneisses I9, 20
Ancient seas, waters of 20
Archjean Era, beginning of 21
Palaeozoic times 21, 22
ancient islands of Colorado 22
Palaeozoic Rocks, thickness of 22-23
Silurian system 23
Cambrian Period, life of.. 23-24
faunal remains 24
crustaceans dominant forms of 24
Silurian rocks, thickness of 25
Devonian system, account of 26
carboniferous system 27
Palaozoic Era, termination of 28
coal, conditions for formation of 28
Mesozoic era 29
Triassic period 30
Jurassic period 33
PAGE.
Geological History — Cretaceous period 35
Dakota epoch 36
marine cretaceois 37
Hayden's Reports, comments on 41
Laramie epoch 42
coal bearing strata, age of 42
workable coal seams 43
e.xtent of Laramie coal measures 44
Grand River coal field 44
V'ampa coal field 48
La Plata coal field 50
Raton coal field 51
Northern Colorado coal field 55
North Park coal field .... 57
South Park, Canon City and Tongue Mesa 58
area of Colorado coal fields 60
quantity of available coal 61
Cenozoic Era, account of 64
Quaternary Period, account of 71
eruptive rocks and eruptives 75
ore deposits of Colorado 78
non metallic minerals and gems 89
Geological Surveys — By Hayden 187
German National Bank — Organization of. .. 210
Gilpin County 97-g8
Goldrick, O. J.— Sketch of Denver by 226
Gould, Jay— Precipitates Black Friday 181-182
secures control of Union Pacific 392
manipulates Kansas Pacific 400
Grand Caiion of Arkansas — First surveys in. . . 374
Grant, James B — Biographyof 450
Grant Smelting Company 450
Grant. U S. visits Colorado ... 155
recommends admission of State 180
Grasshoppers — Devastations of 214
humorous anecdote of 215
W. D. Arnett's notes on 216
birth and habits of 217
destruction of by parasites . — 218
remarkable cunning of 219
experiments for destruction of 220
Greenbackers— Convention of in 1878 48S
H
Hadley, Wm. L. —Presidential elector 358
Hale, H. M. — Superintendent of Schools 208
Hall, Frank- Removal of 157
Hallett, Moses — Named for Senate 358
appointed U. S. District Judge 361
Hamill, W. A.— Ch'n Republican Cent. Com.. 487
named for the Senate 49^
Hard Times-Of 1876-1877 465
INDEX TO VOLUME II.
PAGE.
Hayden's Geological Surveys 1S7
reports of 189
Hicklin, Zan — Anecdotes of 257-267
Hill. N. r. — Candidate for Senate 4S9
relocates smelting works 4gi
ardent political friends of 492
services in the Senate 493
Hinsdale County — Organization of 205
Hogan, W. F. — Founds Leadville "Eclipse.." 471
Hook, George T 436
Holt, C. F 168
Hotchkiss, Enos 205
Hughes, Bela M. — Sketch of A. G. Boone- 251
nominated for Governor ,. .. 332
Hughes, D. W 162
Hunt, A. C— E.xecutes Van Horn 153
Huntington, Wm. S 169
Hussey. Warren & Co 210
I
Irrigation — Governor Elbert's plan for 177
Western Convention called 177
storage reservoirs movement for 17B
national aid sought 1 80
Iron Mask — Sale of 474
Irwin, Richard — Prospects Black Hills 224
J
Jackson, Calvin — Expedition of 197
Jackson, W. S. — Named for the Senate. . . 358, 492
Jackson, George A. — Diary of (See Appendix).
Jacobson, Col. E. P 177
James, Wm. H. — Biography of 448
appointed Brigadier General 463
Jenkins, John W. — Appointed Secretary of
Colorado 157
arrival of in Denver 171
Jones, J. Harvey — Life and character of. . .105-106
K
Kansas Territory— Organization of 326
Kansas Pacific K. R. — Pro rate war with. . . 93-392
short history of 393-395
proposed extension of to Pueblo 99
consolidated with Union Pacific ■ -. 399
Kassler, George W 210
Kellogg, S. B 192
Expedition of to San Juan .... 193
Kountze, C. B 184-210
Lake City — Founding of 205
first explorers in 206
Lake County — Early history of 425
P.^GE.
Lake County — bullion product of 47S
Lander, W. W. — Conspiracy of 1 59
schemes of to oust Bennett 1 60
attacks of on D. H. Moffat 163
transfers his cause to "Tribune " 164
Larimer, Gen. Wm. — Organized Denver Town
Company 230
short biography of 241
Larimer, W. H. H. — Testimony of 232
Las Animas Land Grant — The 161
Robinson's report on 164
Leadville. — Discovery of carbonates in 428
location of Iron-silver njines 430
winter of '76-77 in 432
discovery of the Camp Bird 434
first settlers in the town 435
development of the mines 439
remarkable yields of R. E. Lee. 441
discovery of Morning Star 442
Evening Star mine 443
celebrated mines of 444
population of in 1877 446
made city of first class 447
establishment of smelters 447, 448
prices paid for ores 451
condition of town in 1879 452
miners', great strike of 460
declaration of martial law 462
termination of the strike 464
railways and stage lines 466
building of Clarendon Hotel 468
other districts peopled from 470
newspapers founded in 471
daily "Chronicle" established 472
daily "Herald" established 475
founding of banks in 477
.Smelters and yields 478
Legislature — First State 362
second State 491
Legislatures, Territorial (See .^ppendi.x)
Lessig, W. H. — Removal of 157
Lilley, John G 168
Little Pittsburgh— Discovery of 437
early yields of 438
stock sales of 45 ^
effect of collapse of 457
Lothrop, W. C 208
Louisiana — Territory of 326
Loveland, W. A. H.— Named for Senate 358
purchases R. M. ' News." 483
nominated for Gavernor 4*^4
nominated for the Senate 492
672
INDEX TO VOLUME 11.
^ PAGE.
Macon, Thomas — Named for the Senate 358
counsel for D. & R. G. R. R 372
Manufactures — Appeals for in Denver 1 1 1
Marsh, Alvin 330
Mater, Charles — Biography of 435
Maxwell, L. B. ^Biography of 242
Maxwell, J. P. — President of the Senate 492
McCook, Gov. E. M. — Attempts to respite
Meiers 149
administration of 154
superseded by Elbert 155
removes to Washington 156
reappointed Governor 157
seconds Lander's conspiracy 164
Indian contracts exposed 167, ibS
amount of cash paid on 1 69
confirmed by the Senate 1 70
signs a divorce bill 170
arrives in Denver 173
attempts to remove Judges 175
second administration of iSo
opposes Enabling act 272
resignation of 273
McCook, Mrs E. M.— Death of 172
Mears, Otto — Road builder 205
presidential elector 358
messenger to Washington 3O0
Meeker, N. C. — Appointed Indian agent 495
efforts to civilize Utes 496
troubles of with Indians 498
warned of impending outbreak 499
tragic death of 502
Meeker, Josephine — Relates story of massacre. 502
Meeker, Ralph — Arrival of 502
Meiers, Theo — Trial of, for murder 14S
German efforts in behalf of 149
sentenced to death 148
execution of 1 50
Meldrum, N. H.— Secretary of State 487
Merritt, Gen. Wesley— At White River 501
Meyer, August R.— at Leadville 431
Moffat, D. II. — Appointed Territorial Treasurer 159
effect of on local politics 159
Trustee Las Animas town site 163
attempted removal of 1 73
summoned to appear in court 175
attempts at blackmail 1 76
result of trial in court 177
attempts to prevent panic 183
appointed Receiver Colorado Central 411
purchases Little Pittsburgh 438
Money Market — In 1872-1873.. 109
Morley, W. R. — Famous ride of ... 371
I Morrison — Town of founded 103
' Moss, Capt. — Mining in Animas Valley 204
IT
Narrow Gauge Railways — Builders of 104
miles of in U. S. and Cinada 105
miles completed in 1873 365
"News," Rocky Mountain— Transfer of 4St
sold to W. A. II. Loveland 483
Newspapers — First founded in Leadville 471
New Me.\ico — Bill for admission of 270
Nickels— First introduction of no
Odd- Fellowship — Founding of 120
how funds were obtained 121
Oro Ditch and Fluming Co 429
Ouray, Ute Chief - Surrenders San Juan 190
message of to Gov. Elbert 19 1
commands release of captives 503
life and character of 506, 512
death of 5'"
R. R).
P
Palmer, Gen. W. J.— (see D. .S; R
Panic of 1873. — Causes of
Parrott City — Founding of
Patterson, T. M. — Elected to Congress
pledges new State to Democrats
work of on Enabling act
nominated for Congress in 1S76
canvass of for Forty-Fifth Congress
contest in Congress
sworn as Representative
sends congratulatory message
second nomination for Congress
Paul J. Marshall 283,
Pierce, W. H.- Ch'n Republican Central Com.
Pioneers of Colorado — (See Appendix)
Pitkin, F. W. — Nominated for Governor
biography of
proclaims martial law
confronted by Indian war
conference with Ute Chiefs
Plaft, Col. J. H
Politics, Territorial— In 1S74
Political movements — In 1S76
Pollock, Thos.— Purchases Indian captives . . .
death of ....
Presidential election— Of 1 876
Presidential electors— First Colorado
Public Lands— Rapid absorption of
INDEX TO VOLUME
:.73
PAGE.
Public Schools — Condition of in 1873 2og
Pueblo— Railway agitation in 100
bond propositions submitted loi
first annual fair of 102
commerce of in 1873 208
First National Bank in 211
proclaimed capital of San Juan 4S6
Pueblo & Arkansas Valley R. R 100
completion of 367
R
Railways
Denver & Rio Grande — Progress of gi
Georgetown High Line projected 94
Colorado Central 95, qS
Pine Bluff and Golden 95
Boulder Valley — Completed 96
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 99
Golden & Julesburg 99
Kansas & Colorado 100
Railways — Miles of in 1S73 2oq
effect of on settlement, etc 109
Reed, G. B. — Counsel for Santa Fe 372
Reminiscences — Of Colorado Pioneers 226
Uncle Dick Wootten 233
Zan Hicklin and Mace's Hole 257
Republican Party — Efforts to unite 283
first State Convention of 330
ticket chosen 331
Rice, James 367
Riethmann, John J 211
Rische, August 43^
Robinson Mines — Discovery of 469
Robinson, George B.— Tragic death of 470
Robinson, Wm. F— Business Mgr. "Democrat." 476
Secretary and Treasurer "News" Co 481
Secretary and Treasurer under Loveland . . 483
Rogers A. N. — App'nted R. R. Commissioner. 388
Rollins, E. W. — Treasurer Colorado Central. . 408
Routt, John L. — .\ppointed Governor 273
services as Second Assistant P. .M. General 278
arrival of in Denver 281
sworn into office 282
nominated first Governor of State 332
sends troops to Boulder 41 7
purchases "Morning Star." 442
named for the Senate 492
Russell, Green— Discovery of gold in Colorado 227
S
Saguache— Builds first road to San Juan 205
San Juan Mines— Surrender of by treaty 190
first explorations of 192
I'AGE.
San Juan mines — emigration to in 1861 195
second expedition to 197
e.xplorers from Arizona 198
snowed up in mountains 202
entering Baker's Park 203
counties organized 204
.San Juan — Proposed new Territory of 486
collapse of movement for 486
.Searight, T. B. — Appointed Surveyor General. 157
Shattuck, J. C— Supt. of Public Instruction.. . 487
Sheridan, Gen. P. H.— On gold in Black Hills. 223
orders troops to White River 499
Shoup, Col. George L.— Rewards Tom Toben. 256
Sickels, Gen. T. E 96
Silver, Herman. — Appointed Register 171
Smith, Capt. James T. .. 476.483
Smith, John W. — Builds first woolen mill ill
Smith, Sylvester T.— Appointed Receiver K.
P. R. R 399
Stage Lines— Disappearance of 10;
reminiscences of 106
lines established 107
Stanton, Irving W 1 76
State Movement — Revival of 122
State Legislature — First ... 357
State of Colorado— Attempted division of 484
Steck, Amos - Removal of 1 74
Steele, R. W.— (See Appendi.x)
Stevens, W. H. — Interview of with Walls 430
miner and prospector 428
Stimson, E. K.— Governor of San Juan .... 486
nominated for Auditor 487
Stone Amherst W. --Appointed Judge 175
abduction of 413. 4I4
experiences of in captivity 4 8
Strong, W. B. - Plans of for Pueblo 100, loi
schemes of for traftic 377
St. Vrain & Vijil— Land grant of 161
St. Charles— First buildings in 229
Summit County— Prospectors in 469
T
Tabor, H. A. W.— Established at Leadville... 435
wins riches and fame 437
sells to Chaffee & Moffat 438
buys Matchless mine 444
nominated for Lieut. Governor 487
named for the Senate 492
Telegraph lines— In 1873 209
Teller, Henry M— Grand Master of Masons. . 119
takes part in canvass of 1S76 334
nominated and elected Senator 3,';8, 3.=;9
short biography of 359
574
INDEX TO VOLUME II.
Teller, Willard — In canvass of 1S76 333
counsel for Santa Fe R. R . . 372
in Judge Bowen's court 380
Teller House— In Central City gS
Territorial Legislature — Last 2S7
Territory — Condition of in 1S72 14O
Thatcher, J. A.— Bank president 210
Thomas W. R. — Adjutant General .. 172
attempted removal of 173
resigns office 173
city editor " News" 481
Thompson, J. B. — House of burned by Utes. . 498
Thomson, Sam T — Appointed Receiver. .175
Thornburg, Col. T.T.— Ordered to White River 499
tragic death of 500
Thurman, A. G — Speech on pro rate bill 39S
Toben, Tom— Sketch of 254
Townsend, W. H —Affidavit of 170
"Tribune," Denver — Organ of Republic'n party 484
Tritch, George 211
u
Usher, Judge J. P. — Counsel for D. & R.
G. R. R 373
Ute Indians— Treaty with 1S9
Violations of treaties with 494
nature of Ute I ndians 512
V
Van Diest, T. H.— Statistical notes by 322
PAGE.
Van Horn — Kills Josiah Copeland 151
Vaughn, Champion — Editor "Tribune.".... 164
aids McCook's project 166
Vickers, \V. B.— Editor "News and Tribune."
481, 484
W
Ward, Major Henry 474
Ward, Jasper D.— Sketch of 27S
advises Governor Pitkin 462
Ward, W. S. — Develops "Evening Star". .. . 443
Watson, Joseph W 443
Weld County — Votes bonds to C. C. R. R. . . . 99
Wells, E. T. — Retires from the bench 175
White River Massacre— The 495, 504
Whitsitt, R. E. — Lays out Denver town site.. . 230
adopts Indian boy 197
Williams, A.J 229
Williams, Parson Bill — Death of 239
Wood, Alvinus B 430, 434
Wood, Samuel N 210, 225
Woodbury, R. W 484
Wool — E.^cportations of 112
Woolen Mill— First in Rocky Mountains Ill
Wootten, Uncle Dick— .Adventures of 233, 241
Wright, C. W.— Nominated for Att'y General. 487
action of in R. R war 380
Voung, Frank C 210
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